Ohio Democratic gubernatorial nominee Amy Acton hit back at Republican Vivek Ramaswamy over his controversial ad featuring her estranged mother, telling MS NOW’s “Morning Joe” there is “no low” her opponent won’t “sink to.” With Election Day just over a week away, Acton framed the race as a choice about the kind of politics that Ohio — and the country — are willing to accept.

“Decency is on the ballot,” she said.

The 60-second ad, which ignited a firestorm and garnered national backlash when it was released last week, features Acton’s mother, Donna Arthur, accusing her daughter of lying about her childhood, including her account of growing up in poverty and living in a tent. Ramaswamy’s campaign has defended the ad as evidence that Acton has misrepresented her past.

However, Acton has said she has not spoken to her mother in nearly five decades. She and her brother were removed from Arthur’s custody in 1978 after their stepfather was arrested and indicted for raping Acton when she was 12 years old.

“It isn’t an easy story,” Acton told “Morning Joe” on Monday. “It’s a sad story. It is my story.”

Acton called the ad part of an “era of cruelty and distraction” in politics. She said people are tired of the hostility and want leaders focused on solving problems and noted that all five living Ohio governors, three Republicans and two Democrats, have publicly condemned the ad.

“Everyone is exhausted of living this way,” she said. “They’re tired of the hate and the chaos and vitriol. They want public servants again who actually solve problems instead of making them. And kindness is not weakness.”

Acton said the country needs “good public servants on both sides of the aisle, back in office again, who want to do the hard work of making life better.”

The physician, who served as Ohio’s top public health official, told MS NOW that her difficult childhood shaped her commitment to improving people’s lives and made her a “fighter for the things that we all hold dear.”

“I know what it feels like to be left behind,” she said. “I know what it feels like to be hungry, or not have the heat on, or be just struggling.”

Acton said voters have shared their own experiences with her on the campaign trail.

“I’ve been on the road now, and people are hearing my story; I’m not ever the only one who’s been through a thing or two in their childhood,” she said. “Half our kids are living in poverty in my state, up to 70% in some pockets. While these folks are capitalizing and enriching things for themselves, the people of my state are going backwards on every single measure, and that’s why I’m here.”

The Democrat said the ad reinforced her view that “there’s no low my opponent won’t sink to,” and she accused Ramaswamy of being “just out for himself.”

With Election Day approaching, Acton said “decency is on the ballot” and urged Ohioans to “help us push back on this” and bring more humanity back to politics.

“Let’s not give into this and let’s not give up on one another,” she said. “I see a new day dawning right now.”

You can watch Acton’s full interview in the clip at the top of the page.

The post ‘Decency is on the ballot’: Acton slams Ramaswamy’s ad featuring her estranged mother appeared first on MS NOW.

MS NOW’s Michael Steele slammed Donald Trump’s “11th-hour move” ahead of the midterm election, as the Department of Justice sued Alaska, seeking to delay certification of the state’s Senate election in the event the Republican incumbent loses.

On Thursday, the department asked a federal court to block certification of the results if Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan loses by fewer votes than another candidate, Daniel J. Sullivan, receives. Alaska courts have allowed the other Sullivan to remain on the ballot. The Justice Department is arguing that voters could confuse the two candidates, and that such confusion could potentially affect the outcome of what is expected to be a close race against Democratic nominee Mary Peltola.

“Every step this administration is taking, all the lies that they have told the American people about their sense of making sure elections are fair and free, have just all led to this,” Steele said Friday, shortly after the lawsuit became public.

“The Weeknight” co-host called Attorney General Todd Blanche “the worst of the worst” and said the Justice Department was doing the president’s bidding. Steele argued that the Constitution leaves election administration to the states and that “the federal government and the Department of Justice have absolutely zero role here.”

Trump has previously criticized Alaska’s “crazy voting system.” The state uses a ranked-choice system, in which voters list their candidates in order of preference. If no one wins a majority of first-choice votes, the last-place candidate is eliminated and those votes go to voters’ next choices until one candidate wins.

Steele said the lawsuit shows that Republicans are “afraid” because they have “done jack to give the voters a reason to vote for them.”

“So now, in the 11th hour, they’re going to go and try to manipulate an outcome that’s already foretold by the voters who started early voting, who are already in the game,” he added.

Steele predicted that voters would see through Republican efforts and that the party would get “their you-know-what’s handed to them” on Election Day.

“They have sown and built mistrust in the system that’s coming back to bite them, because we do not trust them. We do not trust their word. We know you’re lying to us,” he said. “And now you’re going to have to reap what you sowed.”

You can watch Steele’s comments in the clip at the top of the page.

The post Michael Steele blasts Trump’s ‘11th-hour’ lawsuit targeting Alaska Senate race appeared first on MS NOW.

MS NOW’s Joe Scarborough called it a “devastating week” for Republicans, whom he said keep dealing themselves “one self-inflicted wound after another” by embracing the “personality cult” around President Donald Trump despite his sinking poll numbers.

On Thursday evening in Sioux City, Iowa, Republican congressional candidate Joe Mitchell presented Trump with a self-created “Man of the Century Award.” Mitchell, who is locked in a tight race for Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District, told the crowd that Trump had done “more for humanity and for America than any other president ever.”

“They’ve never given you the Nobel Peace Prize, by the way, which is a disgrace. So what I came up with, Mr. President, is a new award. It’s called the Man of the Century award,” Mitchell said before handing Trump a gold-framed certificate.

On Friday’s “Morning Joe,” Scarborough questioned why a Republican who is facing a competitive election would tie himself to a president as voters struggle with the cost of living.

“Gas prices, just at a level now that most Americans can’t afford to pay,” he said. “Diesel prices over $6: it’s just absolutely crushing truck drivers, crushing farmers, crushing working Americans, crushing all Americans. Rent, too high — Americans can’t afford it. Interest rates continue to skyrocket. Economic indicators, all being radically adjusted downward. Groceries costing more than ever before.”

Scarborough said the “personality cult” around Trump has “evolved to such a point” that, even with the party’s future at stake, many Republicans are “still trying to kiss up to a guy with a 31% approval rating.”

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Instead of addressing voters’ concerns, Republicans are catering to the president’s ego, Scarborough said. He pointed to Americans “who can’t afford their groceries, who can’t afford gas to fill up their their gas tanks to get to work” and “who are getting crushed by tariffs, who are getting crushed by cuts in health care.”

“I say none of this with any glee,” he continued, warning that Republicans’ loyalty to Trump is producing “one self-inflicted wound after another” as voters struggle with prices, healthcare and the economy.

You can watch Scarborough’s full comments in the clip above.

The post Scarborough: Trump’s ‘Man of the Century’ award is another GOP ‘self-inflicted wound’ appeared first on MS NOW.