Former President Barack Obama on Saturday took advantage of what he described as cruelty and indecency coming from President Trump and his Republican allies, entering one of the nation’s ugliest midterm fights as he worked to rally Democratic voters in battleground Ohio. Obama specifically targeted Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who has stepped up his ad campaign starring the estranged mother of his Democratic rival Amy Acton. Trump and Vice President JD Vance have also defended the ad, even as Republican leaders across Ohio, including Gov. Mike DeWine, have called for its removal. “In recent days, we have seen that there is no line he will not cross, there is no rock bottom he will not sink to,” Obama said of Ramaswamy, noting that Acton has “spoke movingly about his painful childhood and everything he has experienced: abuse, neglect and homelessness.” “There is a decency we should expect from our public officials,” Obama continued. “And I don’t know what’s happened when the standards of conduct are so low that someone would run an ad like that.” Obama, 65, remains the Democratic Party’s best motivator nearly a decade after leaving the White House. He campaigned in Michigan later Saturday night, giving the Democratic Party its star power in the Midwestern battlegrounds that will help determine the balance of power in American politics next week. Obama shared the stage with Acton and former Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, who served three terms in Ohio and is seeking to unseat Republican Sen. Jon Husted. Ohio Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dr. Amy Acton with former President Barack Obama during a campaign rally at the Cleveland Public Auditorium on October 24, 2026, in Cleveland, Ohio. Jeff Swensen/Getty Images Although Ohio has become more Republican, it has been a hotly contested battleground this year. Trump and Vance visited the state in recent weeks to drum up support for Husted and Ramaswamy. And the controversy over Ramaswamy’s announcement has raised the already high temperature. Ramaswamy has defended his decision to go ahead with the announcement as fair play. Trump aggressively defended the ad, which has become a national flashpoint in the final days of the midterm elections, while voting in West Palm Beach on Saturday. “This is a disgrace,” Trump said. “The mother said Amy Acton is a liar and no good. And you know what? I don’t think you can find a better reference for that.” He added that if his own mother had said something bad about him, he would be in the spotlight. Ramaswamy’s campaign video shows Acton’s biological mother, Donna Arthur, calling her a “liar” and implying that she has mental health issues. Acton says his mother was “not well” and his stepfather “wasn’t a good person.” Acton, Ohio’s COVID-19-era health director, has made no secret that he faced homelessness and abuse as a child. Arthur lost custody of his children after his stepfather, Arthur’s husband, was accused of rape involving Acton. The abuse allegedly occurred between December 1976 and April 1978. Cledith Arthur failed to appear in court and became a fugitive. Donna Arthur remained married to him until his death in 2004. “I hope everyone sees all the facts,” Acton told CBS News before the rally. “The facts are: I was taken away from custody of my mother. She was not doing well. Even from a very young age, my brother and I suffered a lot of abuse and neglect, even before my stepfather. But my stepfather was not a good person, and things got worse then. They indicted him before a grand jury. He was a runaway, and they ran away together. And she obviously decided to go with him. There’s a lot out there of what has happened to her since then, but I haven’t seen her since I was 12 years old. in court. So this is a sad story.” Acton told CBS News that “we all know that was a line that was crossed too far,” adding that “no one running for office should have to endure something like this.” She continued, “But I can tell you that my childhood made me who I am. You know, I’m not the only one who has gone through a thing or two in my childhood.” Acton appeared on stage before Obama. “My opponent has decided to intentionally exploit my childhood to save his faltering campaign, but it’s not going to work,” he said. “Decency still matters.” He added: “Mr Ramaswamy, you are not only out of touch, you are worried about yourself and are a danger to my state. Apparently there is nothing low to which you cannot stoop.” Obama criticizes the White House for “chaos, cruelty, corruption and incompetence.” In Ohio, Obama also decried Trump’s inability to cut costs, a key campaign promise, and noted that the president has instead focused on building a new ballroom and helipad at the White House. South Garden. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but he seems very focused on renovating the house,” he joked. “It should be on HGTV.” He continued: “There’s gold everywhere. You have the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a cheesecake factory.” The former Democratic president acknowledged that the nation has Trump for another two years, until his term ends. But voters aren’t stuck with Trump’s allies, he said. “We are not stuck with a cowardly Congress and Republican governors who are running lawlessness, carelessness, cruelty and indifference toward workers,” Obama said. “After two years of chaos, cruelty, corruption and incompetence, the likes of which we have not seen in modern times, you have the opportunity to say enough is enough.” After finishing in Ohio, Obama headed to a rally in Detroit for Abdul El-Sayed, a former public health official who is working to unite the Democratic base in Michigan after winning a divisive primary by less than a percentage point. El-Sayed is running against former Rep. Mike Rogers, a Republican. Obama will headline a rally in Georgia next week with Sen. Jon Ossoff and gubernatorial candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms. Trump is scheduled to speak in Georgia on Saturday. More from CBS News Go deeper with The Free Press in:
