Trump-backed Iowa candidate Ashley Hinson makes groveling pivot after calling out JD Vance over Ramaswamy ad

The Independent and CBS News report on two developments involving Ashley Hinson, the Trump-endorsed Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Iowa, whose open-seat contest has become unexpectedly tight. The Independent says she distanced herself from a campaign spot by Ohio gubernatorial hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy that uses the mother of Democratic rival Dr. Amy Acton to call her a liar, then partly walked back a rebuke of Vice President JD Vance. Speaking to ABC News, Hinson said the spot should be pulled and described Vance's defense of it as the wrong tone. Hours later she posted on X that she had not called Vance ridiculous, only the ad, adding that they differ on one commercial but agree on the country's direction. The Independent adds that President Donald Trump called the ad very powerful, while Ohio Governor Mike DeWine opposed it, according to CBS News · The Independent.

CBS News reports that Senate Majority Leader John Thune joined Hinson in Sioux City on Friday, saying "The majority in the United States Senate must run through the state of Iowa." CBS News adds that polls show Hinson tied with Democratic state Rep. Josh Turek.

Summarized by PolitiKool from CBS News · The Independent and CBS News’s reporting. Read the full story at CBS News · The Independent → Also at CBS News →