Using a victim’s trauma as a political weapon is the most vicious and immoral strategy I have ever seen in any election in this country. Last week, the Republican nominee for governor of Ohio, Vivek Ramaswamy, admitted that he had authorized a campaign video featuring the elderly mother of his Democratic opponent, Dr. Amy Acton. In the ad, Dr. Acton’s mother, from whom she has been estranged for 50 years, calls her daughter a “liar,” particularly for what she has said about “her past.” Though this is not directly mentioned in the ad, Dr. Acton’s “past” includes the sexual abuse Dr. Acton’s stepfather allegedly perpetrated against her when she was a child— allegations that resulted in the man’s indictment for rape (he fled the state before his trial) and Dr. Acton’s mother losing custody of Dr. Acton and her brother.