Amy Acton is getting mixed feedback after a rally video showed her repeatedly telling Republican rival Vivek Ramaswamy that he “cannot buy Ohio .” At the event, the Democratic candidate for governor told the crowd, “You cannot buy this state” and “You can’t buy us.” After the clip spread on X, critics mocked her delivery and what they viewed as an unsuccessful attempt to start a chant.
In the clip, she says, “You cannot buy this state! You cannot buy Ohiooooo! You can’t buy us. You can’t buy us!” She then repeats, “You can’t buy us! You can’t buy us in Ohio! That is the end of this.”
The poster said Acton was trying to get the crowd to repeat the lines and linked the clip to her skipping a debate with Ramaswamy. The short video does not show any debate. Other reporting has confirmed she turned down debate invitations, but this footage doesn’t show that.
Ohio Reacts After the Chant Didn’t Catch
Some focused on Acton’s delivery. One commenter wrote, “She’s insane!”
Others treated the chant itself as the story. A separate post circulating with the same footage said she “awkwardly tries starting a ‘You can’t buy us’ chant” and “fails miserably.” One user compared it to an earlier campaign stumble: “Remember when Howard Dean lost his bid for making one goofy scream? This is 100X worse.”
A third group tied the clip to the race. One commenter wrote, “If she wins the governorship, I will have to leave Ohio.” Another said, “Ohio does not want this!!!!!” A third pointed to her time as Ohio’s health director: “We couldn’t buy anything in Ohio when she forced businesses to shut down during COVID.”
Several replies also turned to the debate, including, “PEOPLE WHO DON’T SHOW UP AT DEBATES SHOULD BE AUTOMATICALLY DISQUALIFIED.”
While critics turned the rally moment into another attack on Acton, her underlying message was aimed squarely at the money pouring into the governor’s race. With Acton now refusing to debate Ramaswamy, moments from the candidates’ separate campaign appearances are likely to face even greater scrutiny as the November election approaches.
