(The Center Square) – Ohio Republican governor candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is quickly backing away from an idea to send children to school year-round and extend the school day.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton posted a clip of Ramaswamy’s social media video, which outlined ideas to reduce the cost of child care, including sending students to school until 4 p.m. and keeping schools in session throughout the year.
Ramaswamy later deleted the video, and a new version without the school plan was uploaded, according to The Daily Beast.
Ramaswamy’s campaign told The Center Square that they believe Acton is trying to create an issue.
“Parents across Ohio are demanding a better education system for their children – and that is exactly who Vivek is listening to. A casual back-and-forth on TikTok is not a policy rollout; it’s a conversation with voters, despite Democrats pretending otherwise,” the campaign’s Connie Luck told The Center Square. “They’re trying to manufacture an issue because they know Amy Acton’s education agenda amounts to the same failed policies that continue to let down our children. Vivek will keep listening to parents across the state and remains open to any option that gives our children a real chance at a better future.”
Republicans initially claimed that Acton’s camp created the video using deepfake AI, but the campaign confirmed to the Columbus Dispatch that the video was real.
In the video, Ramaswamy outlined plans to reduce costs for housing, energy, property taxes, health care and child care.
“I’m a dad. Make parenting more affordable by making school year-round and going til 4 o’clock instead of 3 o’clock so you don’t have to pay for child care,” Ramaswamy said on the original video.
The video did not include any discussion of increased taxpayer costs for year-round schools or an extended school day.
The school portion was edited out of the new video.
