Trump calls gubernatorial election ad controversy 'legitimate attack'

On the 23rd (local time), U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly defended the controversy caused by the Republican candidate's advertisement in which the mother of the Democratic candidate for Ohio's gubernatorial election was publicly criticized, calling it a "fully justified attack."

"She said her daughter was a disaster. She said her daughter was a liar. And she felt she had an obligation to say that," Trump told reporters on his way from the White House to Florida. "She also said her daughter lied about her opponent, Vivek Ramaswamy."

The advertisement mentioned by President Trump was produced by the campaign of candidate Ramaswami, whom he supported, and featured the mother of Democratic candidate Amy Acton, who sniped, saying, "As a mother, it's not easy to say this, but my daughter is a liar."

When it was reported that Candidate Acton suffered all kinds of abuse, including sexual violence, by her stepfather as a child, and because of this, she was separated from her mother and stepfather at the age of 12, there was a backlash that 'the mother who inflicted trauma on her young daughter was being used for election.'

“I would be very lucky to have an ad like that,” Trump said. “I don’t know about what happened a long time ago (the stepfather’s abuse, etc.), but what I do know is that a mother went on TV and said her daughter shouldn’t be governor of Ohio.”

The day before, President Trump said on the social media platform TruthSocial, "Daughters whose mothers talk like that usually don't hold public office, let alone governor," and added, "I told them to continue advertising so that everyone can hear the mother of a flawed, dishonest, and incompetent candidate tell them what a disaster her daughter is."

Ohio is one of the battleground states in the November midterm elections. In the election to select a senator to succeed Vice President JD Vance, who was a U.S. senator here, Republican candidate John Husted is struggling against Democratic candidate Sherrod Brown. In the gubernatorial election, Candidate Acton is evaluated to be ahead of Candidate Ramaswamy.

President Trump harshly criticized Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic candidate for the Michigan Senate election, another battleground, calling him a "jihadist (Islamic jihadist) belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood (Islamic group)" and a "vicious and violent" person.

President Trump's statement that candidate El-Sayed is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood is a one-sided claim by his rival, Republican candidate Mike Rogers. Candidate El-Sayed has stated that he is not a member of the Muslim Brotherhood and does not support the group.

President Trump attacked the Islamic faith of El Sayed, an Egyptian-American candidate, saying, "I call him Mohammed. His middle name is Mohammed," and claimed, "He is a petty fraud, everything about him is fake. He is a liar."

Even when referring to former Democratic President Barack Obama, President Trump has a habit of calling him "Barack Hussein Obama," emphasizing his middle name.