COLUMBUS, Ohio (Diya TV) — Nikki Haley has renewed her feud with Vivek Ramaswamy, criticizing the Republican Ohio governor candidate for airing an ad featuring the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent, Amy Acton. The dispute recalls the personal attacks that marked their 2024 presidential primary rivalry.

“Not laughing. What we tried to tell everyone back then,” Haley wrote on X Tuesday, calling Ramaswamy “a bad guy” and saying he continued to “get away with it.” In a November 2023 debate, Ramaswamy criticized Haley over her daughter’s use of TikTok. Haley told him to leave her daughter out of the argument and called him “scum.”

Ramaswamy’s campaign produced the ad, which began circulating online late Monday without identifying its sponsor. In the video, Donna Arthur calls her daughter a liar and disputes Acton’s account of living in a tent as a child. Ramaswamy confirmed his campaign’s involvement Tuesday and said it would spend $4 million to air the ad online and on television.

The ad has split Ohio Republicans. Gov. Mike DeWine, who endorsed Ramaswamy, called the spot wrong and urged the campaign to pull it. Republican Sen. Jon Husted and Secretary of State Frank LaRose also said they would not have run it. Vice President JD Vance criticized Republicans who objected, while President Donald Trump urged Ramaswamy to keep airing it.

The ad disputes Acton’s account of childhood abuse. Acton has said her stepfather sexually abused her when she was a child. Authorities charged him with rape in 1978, when she was 12; he failed to appear in court and remained a fugitive until his death in 2004. He was never tried or convicted. Acton and her brother, Philip Stearns, left their mother’s custody after the case.

Stearns condemned the ad, accusing Ramaswamy of using his sister’s abuse as a campaign issue. Ramaswamy’s spokesperson, Connie Luck, defended it, arguing that voters should hear from people who know Acton. Luck also pointed to earlier Acton campaign criticism of Ramaswamy’s mother.

The controversy comes as polling shows a close race. A Marist poll conducted Oct. 15–18 found Acton leading Ramaswamy 50% to 43% among likely voters. The poll surveyed 1,176 registered Ohio voters and had a 4.5-point margin of error among likely voters.