COLUMBUS, OH– Last week, Cleveland.com didn’t mince words, calling out multiple of Vivek Ramaswamy and his out-of-state billionaire funded PAC’s ads for what they are: “lies.”
In two fact checks, Cleveland.com slammed claims in Ramaswamy and V-PAC’s ads, classifying various attacks on Dr. Acton as “unsupported by the facts.”
READ: Fact check: 3 lies in V-PAC’s attack ad blaming Amy Acton for COVID-era job losses and rising costs
V-PAC, an outside group supporting Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, blames his Democratic opponent Amy Acton for the loss of manufacturing jobs in Ohio and rising inflation.
We found three claims in the ad that are lies.
1. “Acton shut down Ohio manufacturers. Tens of thousands lost their jobs.”
- The truth: Ohio’s pandemic restrictions closed nonessential businesses but exempted manufacturers supplying essential industries. Manufacturing employment did fall by an annual average of 47,900 jobs in 2020, but that figure reflects the broader pandemic economy rather than losses tied directly to Acton’s orders as the state’s health director.
2. “Closing supply chains caused roughly 60% of Biden’s inflation.”
- The truth: The cited Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco study estimated that global supply chain disruptions accounted for roughly 60% of the surge in U.S. inflation during 2021 and 2022. It did not attribute those disruptions or the resulting inflation to Acton’s directives in Ohio.
3. “Amy Acton made life more expensive. You paid the price.”
- The truth: This claim also relies on the previously cited Federal Reserve study, which examined global supply chain pressures rather than the consequences of her actions. Ohio’s pandemic restrictions did disrupt economic activity, but the ad provides no evidence establishing that Acton’s policies caused the subsequent rise in consumer prices.
READ: Vivek Ramaswamy ad lies about Amy Acton’s energy policies
- A new attack ad from Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy falsely claims Democratic opponent Amy Acton wants to pause oil production and use taxpayer money to subsidize green energy, misrepresenting her proposals on energy and affordability.
- That claim is a lie, according to the standard cleveland.com is using to fact-check the ad.
- Cleveland.com defines a lie as a claim that is unsupported by the facts. Claims that are only partially true, or that cite evidence that does not support the assertion, are considered lies under this standard.
- The ad claims Acton is “calling to pause oil production as gas prices skyrocket and use tax dollars to subsidize green energy, meaning we pay more.”
- But Acton has not called for a broad or statewide pause in oil production. Her proposal is much narrower: a three-year moratorium in Washington County on issuing additional permits for wastewater injection wells and on further injections of fracking wastewater while the state investigates concerns about wastewater migration.
- Residents and local officials have raised concerns that migrating wastewater could contaminate drinking water sources. Acton also has opposed fracking beneath state parks and public lands.
- Those positions do not amount to a call to halt oil production across Ohio.
- The ad also claims Acton wants to use tax dollars to subsidize green energy. But she has not released a proposal to create a new taxpayer-funded subsidy for green energy.
- Instead, Acton has proposed expanding energy production using the “lowest-cost and cleanest sources of energy readily available,” reinstating energy-efficiency standards and expanding access to utility assistance and weatherization programs.
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