Ohio Dem Refuses to Debate ‘Chronic Liar’ Ramaswamy In What’s Being Called the ‘Ugliest’ Race In the Country

Dr. Amy Acton, the Democrat running against Republican Vivek Ramaswamy for governor of Ohio, made it absolutely clear on Tuesday she will not debate her opponent, whom she called a “chronic liar.”

The race between Acton and Ramaswamy, a former GOP presidential candidate, has been an exceptionally nasty one, involving personal character attacks and jabs at family members. The New York Times on Monday reported on the race in an article titled, “This High-Profile Campaign May Be the Ugliest in the Country.”

The tensions in the state escalated even further when an armed man charged toward Acton during a campaign stop early in the month. Acton was unhurt, but there were multiple injuries to people between the man and Acton.

A reporter asked Acton at a campaign stop to address critics who are “saying that you’re not allowing people to report at your event, you’re not being transparent and forthright in answering questions from people who come to your events. Do you want to respond to that?”

“Yeah, I’ve been answering the questions of voters for two and a half years. I’ve been on the ground, listening deeply. You saw me on air every single day for an hour and a half, unscripted, answering questions, some of the hardest questions ever asked. I look forward to doing that. I’m doing editorial boards. I can’t wait to do it. I’m open to any invitation,’ Acton said, before turning to Ramaswamy:

What I have said is that I will not be beside my opponent, who has said things that have crossed the line. I won’t be doing what a debate should be, which is a civil dialog about facts, when you’re with somebody who’s a chronic liar, who has attacked my family, put on lies the way they have, said that I’m a socialist when I’m not a socialist, and then invoked the Second Amendment, saying it’s time to use the Second Amendment to get rid of that. That, to me, after the things I’ve been through, as we just saw in Canfield, to say something didn’t happen as I watched people be injured and watched people take risks. That, to me, is not a civil dialog, and I won’t honor that.

But I will, absolutely, every single day, and when I am governor, as I hope to be, we will be getting together the same way we did in Covid, because I honestly want to bring the people along the journey. I want to take them behind the scenes. I became well known for putting hard cards on the table, telling the truth every single day, even the things that were hard to hear. But I want Ohioans… you cannot fix the things we face as a state alone, as one person, or one governor. I need us all to grow to the goals that we have together. And the way I hope to do that is in dialog.

Acton holds a 4-point lead over Ramaswamy in the RealClearPolitics average of polling.

Watch the clip above via C-SPAN.

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