Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy was confronted by a furious heckler over an attack ad for his campaign featuring the estranged mother of his Democratic rival Amy Acton.

Ramaswamy, a billionaire ally of President Donald Trump, was speaking at a campaign event in Westerville, Columbus Tuesday when he was loudly interrupted.

While audio from a clip of the incident is not entirely clear, the man can be heard shouting “Amy Acton’s mother” and “she was 12 years old”.

Acton alleges she was raped by her late stepfather when she was a child and fell out with her mother Donna Arthur when she refused to believe her.

The candidate attempted to restore calm by saying: “Sir, sir, excuse me, you’re going to leave this room if you’re gonna be…,” before being shouted down.

“Sir, if you want to be patient and you want to ask a question at the end, you’re free to do that,” Ramaswamy continued, before the man was escorted out of the venue by a police officer. “Thank you for your contribution today.”

The footage of Ramaswamy being confronted was posted to X by Acton communications staffer Ethan Lynne with the comment: “Vivek Ramaswamy’s first public appearance today didn’t go well.”

In the contentious campaign ad, which was been met with widespread backlash, Arthur calls her daughter “a liar”.

“Don’t let her become your governor,” she says. “If you think she’ll make your life better, you’re fooling yourself. It will only get worse.”

Acton, who says she has not seen her mother since a court appearance in 1978, responded to its release with a statement posted to Facebook Tuesday in which she said: “Growing up in Youngstown, my brother Phil and I endured abuse, hunger, and neglect – even spending one winter homeless living in a tent.

“We were often kept in a dark basement, were frequent-fliers with child protective services, and lived in fear of our birth mother’s violent and erratic temper. Between the ages of 10 and 12, I was sexually abused by her husband, while my birth mother did nothing to protect me.

“I’ve always known that she was deeply sick and unwell, and it’s sad to see Vivek Ramaswamy exploit her all for his own political gain.”

Acton’s brother Phil Stearns described the ad as “a despicable low” and a “disgusting attack”.

He has since appeared in a new TV spot for his sister’s campaign responding to their mother’s comments, in which he states: “I received a lot of abuse, but Amy always got the worst of it.

“She continued to receive that abuse because she knew she had to protect me from that, and if she hadn’t done that, who knows where I would have ended up.

“She was 11 and 12 years old, and to think that that’s somehow a talking point – shame on Vivek. The contempt he has for Amy is the contempt he has for Ohio. He’s not fit to lead.”

Connie Luck, a spokesperson for the Ramaswamy campaign, said in a statement: “We don’t know what happened between Amy and her mother, who first spoke out about Amy in 2020, but we know that Amy Acton is a serial fabulist who has some serious problems with the truth that the public needs to be aware of before deciding who to entrust as governor.”

The pro-Ramaswamy ad has been denounced as “dastardly” by conservative pundit Meghan McCain but embraced by other MAGA figures including Donald Trump Jr and Laura Loomer.