Voting in the midterm elections has begun in many states across the country, and election day is one week away on November 3, 2026. I voted on the nineteenth in Connecticut. According to polls, the Democrats appear to have an advantage owing to the president's unpopularity and the unprincipled messaging by some Republicans. One such Republican is Vivek Ramaswamy, a candidate for governor in the state of Ohio. A recent ad, which was posted by Ramaswamy, has created a furor and considerable bipartisan condemnation. It has been called evil and a new bottom for MAGA. David French, in an Opinion for the New York Times ("'Despicable' Doesn't Begin to Cover It," October 25, 2026) wrote:
I’ve never seen a viler ad.
By now, you almost certainly know the story. Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican candidate for governor of Ohio, posted an ad featuring a malicious attack on Amy Acton, Ramaswamy’s Democratic opponent. The ad starred Acton’s own mother, a woman named Donna Arthur.
The family story here is evil. Arthur married a man named Cledith Arthur, who became Acton’s stepfather. Cledith Arthur was indicted when Acton was 12 for raping her. He fled the jurisdiction rather than face charges.
Donna lost custody of her children, and — as Charles Hilu at National Review reported — she has her own criminal history. She was convicted of theft by deception in the 1990s and accused of animal neglect in 2021.
It’s hard to imagine a more cruel and evil act than raping a child. There is no betrayal greater than the betrayal of a child by a parent. And then Ramaswamy compounded that betrayal by wielding that evil mother as a weapon against her own daughter.
He writes further:
At a rally, Trump said that he told Ramaswamy to “leave it up and look upstairs and say, ‘Thank you God very much, I appreciate it.’ ”
“I only wish I could have had an ad like that against somebody,” he said.
If there were a column hall of fame, Adam Serwer’s 2018 essay in The Atlantic called “The Cruelty Is the Point” should hold a place of honor. Rarely has a single piece so completely captured the zeitgeist of a movement.
Trump’s “only real, authentic pleasure is in cruelty,” Serwer wrote. “It is that cruelty, and the delight it brings them, that binds his most ardent supporters to him, in shared scorn for those they hate and fear: immigrants, black voters, feminists and treasonous white men who empathize with any of those who would steal their birthright.”
I do not post on Facebook, but I have read some items posted by others. Recently, Langdon Hubbard re-posted a reflection that was written by Bishop Talbert Swan II, an American religious leader and prelate in the Church of God in Christ (COGIC). So impressed by his observations, I decided to share it here in this blog post. Hubband begins by saying:
Yesterday Franklin Graham called for Christians to vote prayerfully, saying that means voting Republican. Bishop Talbert Swan responded with the following important reminder of what the Republican Party has stood for during this morally bankrupt and murderous administration.
“FRANKLIN GRAHAM, YOU FORGOT A FEW THINGS ABOUT THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.
Franklin Graham, since you’ve decided to use your platform as a Christian minister to tell Americans what the Republican Party stands for, allow me, as a fellow minister of the Gospel, to help you complete your list.
You conveniently forgot to mention that the Republican Party:
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Has embraced policies that are openly hostile to Black progress, racial equity, and the pursuit of justice.
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Is attempting to sanitize American history, minimize the horrors of slavery, and erase the contributions and struggles of Black Americans from public institutions.
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Has dismantled diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and weakened longstanding federal civil rights protections.
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Has supported sweeping federal workforce reductions and attacks on equal-opportunity initiatives that threaten the careers and economic security of qualified Black women.
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Passed legislation cutting more than a trillion dollars in projected Medicaid spending, putting healthcare for millions of poor, elderly, disabled, and vulnerable Americans at risk.
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Supported cuts to food assistance programs that help feed struggling families, children, seniors, and people with disabilities.
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Has prioritized tax advantages for wealthy Americans while demanding sacrifices from people who can barely afford groceries, rent, medication, and utilities.
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Has proposed devastating reductions in federal medical research funding, threatening progress in cancer treatment, disease prevention, and healthcare innovation.
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Has pursued policies that weaken the social safety net while claiming to be the party of Christian family values.
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Has supported sending billions of dollars in military assistance and weapons to Israel while defending or excusing the mass killing, displacement, and starvation of Palestinians in Gaza, atrocities that numerous human rights organizations and genocide scholars have condemned as genocide.
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Has championed aggressive immigration enforcement policies that separate families, traumatize children, and treat desperate human beings seeking refuge as enemies rather than neighbors.
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Has supported efforts to restrict voting access, particularly through measures that disproportionately burden Black voters, poor communities, students, and the elderly.
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Has embraced attacks on reproductive healthcare while simultaneously supporting policies that make prenatal care, childbirth, childcare, and healthcare less accessible.
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Has promoted attacks on public education and efforts to censor discussions of racism, systemic inequality, and America’s history of racial oppression.
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Has attacked protections for LGBTQ people while claiming to defend religious liberty.
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Has enabled a president who was convicted of 34 felony counts, found civilly liable for sexual abuse, and repeatedly used the presidency to attack judges, journalists, political opponents, and institutions that hold powerful people accountable.
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Has defended or minimized serious ethical concerns surrounding Donald Trump’s family businesses, which have generated enormous revenues through cryptocurrency ventures and foreign-linked deals while he occupies the White House.
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Has resisted full accountability and transparency concerning Jeffrey Epstein’s network, raising legitimate questions about whether powerful and politically connected individuals will ever face meaningful scrutiny.
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Has defended the January 6 insurrectionists and supported presidential pardons for people convicted of offenses arising from the attack on the United States Capitol.
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Has embraced political figures who routinely traffic in racism, xenophobia, misogyny, cruelty, and the dehumanization of vulnerable communities.
And Franklin, since you invited people to prayerfully consider what both parties stand for, let’s open the Bible while we’re at it.
Jesus said, “I was hungry, and you gave me meat. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you took me in. Naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came unto me.” (Matthew 25:35–36)
The prophet Isaiah said to loose the bands of wickedness, undo heavy burdens, let the oppressed go free, and break every yoke. (Isaiah 58:6)
Micah said God requires us to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with Him. (Micah 6:8)
And Jesus announced that He had been anointed to preach good news to the poor, proclaim liberty to the captives, and set the oppressed free. (Luke 4:18)
Now tell me, Franklin, which of those Scriptures instructs Christians to protect the powerful while punishing the poor? Which one tells us to comfort billionaires while abandoning the sick? Which one commands us to defend borders but disregard the bodies of suffering children? Which one authorizes Christians to ignore racism, excuse corruption, and turn a blind eye to injustice?
You cannot claim to be speaking for Jesus while consistently defending policies that undermine the very people Jesus commanded us to love and serve.
And before somebody gets confused, this is not an endorsement of the Democratic Party. Democrats deserve accountability for their own failures, compromises, and injustices.
But Franklin Graham didn’t publish a balanced theological examination of both parties. He published a Republican campaign advertisement dressed up as Christian counsel.
Franklin, you can be a spokesman for the Republican Party, or you can be a prophetic voice holding political power accountable. But don’t confuse partisan loyalty with biblical fidelity.
The Gospel is not an extension of the Republican National Committee. Jesus Christ is not a mascot for MAGA. And the Kingdom of God does not have an elephant for its logo.
If you’re going to tell the people to vote prayerfully, Franklin, at least have the integrity to tell them the whole story.”
I encourage everyone to vote prayerfully in these very important midterm elections, remembering the complete story about the state of our nation and what Jesus requires of us as His followers.