President Donald Trump on Friday doubled down on his support for a controversial campaign advertisement targeting Ohio Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton, saying he will not change his position despite widespread condemnation of the spot.

The $4 million advertisement, funded by Republican rival Vivek Ramaswamy, features Acton's estranged mother, Donna Arthur, calling her daughter a "liar" and urging voters not to support her. Trump first voiced support for the ad in a post on Truth Social on Thursday, and reiterated his backing at a campaign rally in Sioux City, Iowa. Speaking to reporters at the White House on Friday, Trump defended the advertisement's legitimacy, saying: "A mother is saying, 'Don't put my daughter there, because she's a terrible person and she's a liar.' Why shouldn't somebody use that?"

When pressed about new details regarding Acton's account of childhood sexual abuse by her stepfather, Trump dismissed the line of questioning. "No, it's a mother speaking badly against Amy Acton," he said. Documents obtained by NBC News from the Mahoning County Clerk of Courts show that Acton's stepfather, Cledith Arthur, was arrested and indicted in 1978 for rape involving a child under 13 years old. Acton has stated she has not seen or spoken to her mother in nearly 50 years. Her brother, Philip Stearns, has backed her account of the abuse.

Ramaswamy defended the advertisement at a campaign stop in Strongsville, Ohio, on Friday morning, saying he planned to continue running it. "It had nothing to do with childhood abuse, which I will be the No. 1 governor to prosecute when I am the governor of this state, because it is wrong," Ramaswamy told supporters. He accused the media of lying and claimed the advertisement was about Acton's truthfulness in the campaign.

The ad has drawn sharp criticism from prominent Republicans, including Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, who called the advertisement "just wrong" and said he would urge Ramaswamy's campaign to remove it. U.S. Senator Jon Husted, another Ohio Republican, stated he "would not have run that ad." Vice President JD Vance, however, has defended Ramaswamy's decision to air it, campaigning alongside him on Wednesday.

Trump compared the situation to his own family dynamics, suggesting that if his mother had spoken negatively about him, the media would treat it differently depending on party affiliation. "If my mother, the legendary Mary MacLeod Trump, said anything bad about me, the Fake News would play it up," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "The Dumocrats would be totally supportive, and it would go down as the Ad of the Decade."

Polling data shows Acton narrowly ahead of Ramaswamy in the gubernatorial race. Political analysts have raised concerns that the controversy could backfire on Republicans, potentially alienating some voters ahead of the November 3 midterm elections. The backlash has also overshadowed other Republican campaigns in Ohio, including U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown's competitive race against Republican Jon Husted.