‘I don’t know how it works’: Donald Trump Jr. says Democrats ‘want to make Ohio a state’ at a Vance rally

Donald Trump Jr. took the stage at a campaign stop for Vice President JD Vance in Swanton, Ohio, on Monday, Nov. 2. While addressing the crowd, he ran through a list of actions he said Democratic candidates aim to take.

According to PEOPLE, Trump Jr. stated, “They want to pack the Supreme Court. They want to make Ohio a state, make DC a state, have permanent one-party rule, all apparently, I don’t know how it works, but you know, they can do these things and get away with it.” He followed that by saying, “All in the name of somehow preserving democracy.”

Ohio has been a state since Feb. 19, 1803, when it became the nation’s 17th, according to the National Archives. Trump Jr. offered no further details on how Democrats would go about making Ohio a state.

Criticisms of the Democratic candidate for governor followed the remarks

After those comments, Trump Jr. turned his attention to Dr. Amy Acton, the Democrat running for governor of Ohio. He brought up accusations of alcohol abuse and other claims against her. Rallies in the state have drawn other headlines too, including Trump’s reaction to empty-seat reports.

A political action committee paid for an ad that said Acton had “admitted” to alcohol abuse. The ad pointed to a 1994 application for her medical license, where she checked “yes” to a question asking whether she had ever been treated for “emotional or mental illness, drug addiction or abuse, or an alcohol problem,” according to Politifact. Acton’s campaign told the outlet the answer referred to outpatient therapy she received after childhood sexual abuse.

The race pits Acton, who is 60, against Republican Vivek Ramaswamy. In October, Ramaswamy’s campaign put out an ad that included Acton’s mother, Donna Arthur. Acton and her mother have been estranged since 1978. The ad was later removed.

In the video, Donna said, “Don’t let her become your governor. If you think she’ll make your life better, you’re fooling yourself.” She continued, “I love my daughter, but when I saw her lying about her opponent, it’s not easy for a mother to say this: that Amy has a serious problem. She is a liar.”

Court records previously obtained by PEOPLE show that Acton’s stepfather, Cledith Arthur, was arrested in July 1978 and charged with raping her. She was 12 years old at the time. The alleged abuse took place between December 1976 and April 1978. He entered a not-guilty plea, then failed to show up for court and became a fugitive in October 1978. He died in 2004.

Acton’s brother, Philip Stearns, put out his own response ad. He said, “It’s not surprising that Vivek Ramaswamy has stooped to such a despicable low as to attempt to turn the sexual abuse Amy endured at 12 years old from our birth mother’s husband into a political talking point.”

Stearns went on to say, “After he was arrested and Amy and I were removed from their custody, our birth mother stayed married to Amy’s rapist until he died. This desperate, disgusting attack reveals exactly who Vivek Ramaswamy is at his core – a pathetic excuse for a man who is willing to hurt anyone as long as it gets him what he wants.”