MUST READ: The Columbus Dispatch Catches Vivek Ramaswamy In Another Lie in Scam Ad

MUST READ: The Columbus Dispatch Catches Vivek Ramaswamy In Another Lie in Scam Ad

August 28, 2026

Columbus, Ohio- New reporting from The Columbus Dispatch caught Vivek Ramaswamy in yet another lie on his desperate quest to scam as many Ohioans as possible. Ramaswamy's ad features Linda Caudill, longtime GOP operative, who blames Dr. Acton for her mother's death, but records show the woman lived and died in Kentucky and passed away six weeks after Dr. Acton stepped down as Ohio Health Director.

"Lying Vivek Ramaswamy is again resorting to baseless and easily disproven lies because he's desperate to salvage any thread of his failing campaign," said Ohio Democratic Party spokeswoman Katie Seewer. "While liar Ramaswamy grapples with the fallout from getting caught red-handed in another lie, Ohioans will be hearing the truth about his alleged 'pump-and-dump' scam that made him rich."

READ: Ad blames Acton for isolating dying mom during COVID. There's more to it

• A new ad from Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign features a GOP activist who blames Amy Acton for isolating her late mother during the COVID-19 pandemic, but records show the woman lived in Kentucky and died weeks after Ohio ended its stay-at-home order.

• In Ramaswamy's ad, Linda Caudill, a member of the Ohio Republican Party State Central Committee, said her mother went into a nursing home shortly before Acton "shut down the state" and died two months later.

• The ad doesn't identify the nursing home or specify where Caudill's mother spent her final months. But her obituary… indicates she was from Erlanger, Kentucky; belonged to a church in Elsmere, Kentucky; and died July 25, 2020, at a hospice facility in Edgewood, Kentucky, six weeks after Acton stepped down as health director.

• Additional public records list northern Kentucky addresses for Caudill's mother that date back decades.

• The woman's death also came two months after DeWine lifted Ohio's stay-at-home order and travel restrictions, though officials encouraged high-risk people to stay home when possible. The order, when it was in effect, included exceptions for Ohioans who needed to care for elderly loved ones.

• Caudill is no stranger to Republican politics in Ohio. She served as a delegate for Trump in 2016 and 2024. She also sparked controversy as a volunteer for former U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci's 2017 campaign for governor, in part for sharing a meme that suggested violence against then-Secretary of State Jon Husted.

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