MOMMY DEAREST

Vile MAGA Candidate Is Exposed as Thin-Skinned Mommy’s Boy

The paper-thin reason for Vivek Ramaswamy’s twisted attack is revealed by our must-read newsletter The Swamp.

Welcome to Midterms Meltdown, a special pop-up newsletter from The Swamp—bringing you up to the minute with the secrets the politicians don’t want you to know about the race to November 3.

It is the most consequential election campaign since 2024, and the nooze will be oozing around the nation to shape D.C. for the next two years and beyond. Our David Gardner, Farrah Tomazin, and Sarah Ewall-Wice are getting down and dirty with the inside stories from the battlefields every Monday and Friday.

Melting down in The Swamp today are: Elon Musk, Amy Acton, Jeff Yass, Jon Ossoff, Susie Wiles, Peter Thiel, Jai Chabria, JD Vance, Cindy Hyde-Smith, Vivek Ramaswamy, Mike DeWine, John Kasich, Danielle Alvarez, James Talarico, Reid Hoffman, Ken Paxton, Scott Colom, Jeff Crank, Jeffrey Epstein, Monica Alba, Jessica Killin, and Michael Bloomberg.

Vivek Comes Up with Thin-Skinned Excuse for Epic Backfire

Vivek Ramswamy, many Republicans believe (and Democrats hope), blew up his campaign to be Ohio governor with his controversial attack ad targeting opponent Amy Acton’s account of being a victim of child sex abuse, The Swamp can reveal.

But Ramaswamy doesn’t believe that in the slightest. And in fact, at a campaign stop in Powell, Ohio on Friday, Ramaswamy doubled down on his attacks against Acton—and then accused her of starting it by attacking his own mother.

“When she defames my own mother— speaking of mothers—defames my own mother in a press release, in a way that’s been completely debunked, but that they still fail to correct, that deserves to be corrected,” Ramaswamy told voters during a campaign stop at the Pizza Cottage and Tipton Tavern in Powell, about 14 miles from Columbus.

“Voters deserve to know what the truth is, and the truth is that this woman is a liar—so we ran an ad that said she is a liar in this campaign and over the course of her record.”

The Swamp has tracked down exactly what Ramaswamy could mean. Had Acton said a calumny so foul about Geetha Ramwaswamy to prompt a nuclear-tipped response, smearing someone as a “liar” for telling how she was raped by her stepfather?

Alas, it seems, the level of offense any rational person could possibly take from what Acton’s campaign had to say could not come close to the response.

Ramaswamy, 41, it turns out was furious over a press release issued by Acton’s campaign on August 12 that recounted how his mother, geriatric psychiatrist Dr. Geetha Ramaswamy, was involved in a medical scheme that helped net him nearly $260 million.

The “Dr. Amy Acton for Governor” campaign said in the press release that the billionaire “hired his own mother, who lacked research experience, to manipulate clinical trial data in an alleged ‘pump-and-dump’ pharmaceutical scheme” and “made out with nearly $260 million.”

The release centered on intepirdine, a drug that Ramaswamy’s biotech company, Axovant, was pushing for Alzheimer’s patients.

“Vivek Ramaswamy will do anything, including shamelessly profiting off Alzheimer’s patients and getting his own mother to manipulate clinical trial data, to make a buck. We cannot trust a scam artist billionaire to put Ohio first, from lowering our costs to taking on corruption,” the release quoted Addie Bullock, the communications director of Ohioans for Amy Acton, as saying.

It’s certainly a catchy charge. A fact check indicates that Ramaswamy’s mom did work for his start-up, he did exit with $260 million, and there appears to be no indication that Geetha Ramaswamy had extensive experience running clinical trials. Intepirdine, the Ramaswamy drug, was a failure, with a clinical trial failing to prove it could help failing memory. But the other splashy elements were examined by the respected PolitFact, who rated them “mostly false.” And the Acton campaign did not turn the press release into a $4 million ad.

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But Ramaswamy, it seems, has the opposite problem from the loss of memory. In fact, he couldn’t forget a minor slight against his mom—and may just have set his campaign on fire as a result.

Yale Pals Vance and Ramaswamy Have a Consultant in Common

Vice President JD Vance was quick to support his pal Ramaswamy when he came under fire for taking a wrecking ball to his Ohio governor’s race with that ad.

But The Swamp can reveal it wasn’t just Vance proving to be a friend in need.

In fact, behind the billionaire bomb-thrower and the vice president telling Republicans to “stop whining” is a familiar political operator: Jai Chabria, a consultant who happens to be shared by both Vance and Ramaswamy.

The Swamp’s Farrah Tomazin is in the midterm battleground of Ohio today, where some Republican insiders believe that connection helps explain the ill-advised ad—and Vance’s combative decision to double down rather than distance himself from a controversy that has split his party. In the words of one operative: “All roads lead to Jai.”

The 49-year-old Ohio strategist worked for Vance’s 2022 Senate campaign before joining Ramaswamy’s team as he prepared his run for governor. He also previously served as a senior adviser to former Ohio Governor, and failed Trump presidential rival, John Kasich (who is no fan of Ramswamy or the ad) and worked at Mercury Public Affairs, the influential firm that also employed Susie Wiles before she became Trump’s chief of staff. Danielle Alvarez, a former Trump campaign adviser and White House press aide, also worked at Mercury and returned to the firm in 2025.

If the ad is the undoing of Ramswamy, some in Ohio Republican circles are predicting the problem could be contagious for the most ambitious Buckeye of them all: Vance himself. “It certainly hasn’t helped him,” whispered one operative with delicious under-statement to The Swamp when asked how the Vance 2028 campaign was being affected by the Vivek ad.

Republicans Go Mississippi Money Burning

The Senate Leadership Fund, tasked with helping Republicans hold the majority, is going up with ads in once deep-red Mississippi on Saturday to help MAGA Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith. The super PAC has placed $168,000 on ads in the race so far between now and Election Day, according to tracing by Ad Impact. (Mississippi’s media markets are smaller and cheaper than the mega-bills for advertising in Texas, and right now, Ohio, meaning $168,000 is actually a decent chunk of change.)

It’s an unusual place for Republicans to start spending just over a week before the election. Trump won it in 2024 by more than 24 points. Now he’s rushing down to the state to campaign for Hyde-Smith on Monday as the race tightens against Democratic challenger Scott Colom. The seat still remains largely in the Republican column, but it has shifted slightly. The Cook Political Report changed its rating from “Solid Republican” to “Likely Republican” earlier this week. The land of the delta blues might just stay red—but only with help from a lot of green.

Talarico Attracts MEGA Donors as MAGA Fights to Keep Up

This week, James Talarico’s campaign surpassed Sen. Jon Ossoff’s as the top fundraiser this cycle, but the main super PAC supporting his candidacy is also getting some massive infusions of cash from some big names. An FEC filing late Thursday showed that billionaire Michael Bloomberg donated $2.5 million to the Lone Star Rising PAC. Democratic mega donor Reid Hoffman gave another $5 million to the PAC, bringing his total to more than $16 million. And after former Ken Paxton donor Thomas Henry announced he was flipping his support to back Talarico this week, it turns out the prominent Texas attorney also put his money where his mouth is. The FEC filing late Thursday showed that he gave the PAC $1 million on October 1, well beyond the more $646,000 he gave the PAC backing Paxton roughly five months ago.

Rewriting the Campaign to Release the Epstein Files

A Trump-affiliated super PAC is trying to revise history when it comes to the push to release the Epstein files—despite The Swamp having the receipts.

No Going Back PAC, which is funded by Trump’s MAGA Inc., paid an eye-popping $2 million for fliers sent out in Colorado that tout GOP Rep. Jeff Crank voting to release the Epstein files in late 2025. The flier states he’s “rooting out D.C.’s culture of corruption to hold those in power accountable.”

The reality is it took a group of lawmakers to force the Epstein Files Transparency Act to receive a vote on the floor of the House— and that Crank was never part of the group. Instead he sat it out as Republican leaders fought to bury the bill. Then he only voted for the release when there was no escaping the floor vote, along with every single House member but one.

Not only does the flier promote his months-late vote to release the files, it also attacks an ad featuring the brother and sister-in-law of Virginia Giuffre. The Swamp first revealed the ad from his opponent Jessica Killin featuring Sky and Amanda Roberts, who called out their own congressman, Crank, for refusing to meet with them as they lobbied for the release of the Epstein files.

Though the Roberts were able to meet with Crank’s staff, they then did not hear back from his office and only received a callous “ha ha” reaction to follow up texts a full year later. The congressman’s office called the text earlier this month an accident, but that doesn’t explain their year of radio silence as the Roberts’ joined Epstein survivors begging lawmakers to act. Now a screenshot of Roberts’ face is included in the flier under the banner “More Lies from Liberal Lobbyist Jessica Killin.”

“Jeff Crank covered up Epstein’s crimes to protect Donald Trump,” Roberts said in the ad. Now we’ve got less than two weeks to wait to see if Crank becomes the latest powerful man brought down by the taint of the dead sex criminal.

What Trump Is Saying:

“Quiet! Isn’t she a fresh person? You’re a horrible little reporter, aren’t you?” Trump talking to NBC White House reporter Monica Alba, who was trying to explain the allegations of sexual abuse made against Ohio gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton’s stepfather.

What the Dems are saying:

“The power of our many is greater than the power of their money.” Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed.

What the Republicans are saying:

“If we lose this seat here in Iowa, the Democrats will control the US Senate. Mark my words.” Iowa Senate candidate Ashley Hinson.

And Finally…Place Your Bets:

Who will win the Ohio Governor race?

What they’re saying on Kalshi:

Amy Acton - 82 percent

Vivek Ramaswamy - 19 percent

What they’re saying on Polymarket:

Amy Acton - 82 percent

Vivek Ramaswamy - 19 percent

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