Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is furiously defending his controversial attack ad against Democratic opponent Dr. Amy Acton.

But Ramaswamy’s reasons for releasing the ad range from dubious to downright skeevy.

Earlier this week, Ramaswamy released a political ad featuring Donna Arthur, Acton’s long-estranged birth mother, calling her daughter a “liar” and insinuating she has mental issues.

What the ad didn’t mention is that Arthur hasn’t seen Acton since 1978, when she lost custody of her children after her husband, the children’s stepfather, was indicted for raping Acton.

Ramaswamy has been criticized for the ad, including by many Republicans ― but not President Donald Trump, who said the ad was like “hitting pay dirt,” or Vice President JD Vance, who said he was “disgusted” by the Republicans who objected to it.

Ramaswamy apparently decided the best plan of attack was to double down on his decision, damn the potential fallout.

On Thursday, he was filmed telling a voter who was griping about the ad that he was just pointing out his opponent’s “flaws.”

“Politics, sometimes, it’s a tough sport,” he says in the video, which was posted by Ethan Lynne, who works for the Acton campaign. “And you point out where you think your opponents are flawed.”

INSANE. Vivek Ramaswamy says Dr. Acton’s childhood sexual abuse makes her “flawed” while being confronted yesterday pic.twitter.com/qKVJMs02Zd

On Friday, he insisted that his rationale for the ad wasn’t to shame Acton for her childhood trauma.

“The issue here is that our opposition — and I think with the media’s aid — they are lying about an ad that is about lying,” Ramaswamy said. “Our ad had nothing, nothing to do with childhood abuse, sexual abuse. We condemn that as forcefully as anyone. Our ad was about a consistent track record of Amy Acton telling lies, including during this campaign.”

He said that he’s never met Acton or her mother, but thinks that “if a candidate has repeatedly told lies in this campaign as she has ... I think it is absolutely acceptable for voters to hear and make a decision for themselves.”

Vivek Ramaswamy defends his ad: "It had nothing to do with childhood abuse" pic.twitter.com/28pnWwckh5

In another exchange, Ramaswamy dismissed criticism by Ohio governor Mike DeWine, who called the ad “deeply, deeply troubling” on Thursday, and said, “It’s wrong to run this ad.”

Ramaswamy said Friday he “respectfully had a different view,” and claimed the real issue is that his opposition “with the media aid” is “lying about an ad that’s about lying.”

Reporter: Governor DeWine called on you to pull down the adRamaswamy: I have a different point of view. The media is lying. pic.twitter.com/0givFCiybq

Acton called releasing the ad “a horrible and hideous thing to do.”

“My mother is not well,” the candidate said on Wednesday, adding, “I think it’s despicable, but it’s exactly like he has been the entire campaign.”

Ramaswamy, a 7.7% stakeholder in BuzzFeed, the parent company of HuffPost, currently trails Acton 48.5% to 44.9% in polls, according to RealClearPolitics.

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