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Columbus, Ohio — New reporting from NBC 4 Columbus reveals that Senator Jon Husted has refused to support a ban on stock trading for Members of Congress and their spouses — even as he enriches himself by actively trading stocks while in office.

WATCH:

Transcript:

Colleen Marshall, NBC 4 Columbus: Financial disclosure documents show [Senator Husted] and his wife are invested in dozens of mutual funds and individual stocks, including for her, stock in Intel. As Lieutenant Governor, Husted was a driving force behind the effort to bring the chipmaker to Ohio. So is that the kind of potential conflict [proponents of a stock trading ban are] targeting?

Ohio Democratic Party Senior Communications Advisor Tony Wen released the following statement:

“Jon Husted refuses to ban stock trading in Congress because he’s personally enriching himself while having access to insider information. While Ohio families are struggling to afford the basics, Husted is cashing in while in office. Ohioans deserve a Senator focused on making life better for them — not enriching themselves.”

Read more about Jon Husted’s corruption:

• Jon Husted has reported that his wife had investments of up to $15,000 in Intel Corporation.

• In a recent interview, Husted admitted to meeting with Intel about the status of the company’s Ohio manufacturing project, suggesting he had access to non-public information.

• As Lieutenant Governor, Husted was described as the “face of Intel in Ohio” and was responsible for helping finalize the deal to bring the company to Ohio.

• Husted’s refusal to crack down on corruption fits a clear pattern: siding with the wealthy while Ohio families struggle with skyrocketing utility, grocery, and health care costs.

• Husted has denied an affordability crisis exists at all, insulting Ohioans by telling them to simply “earn more” money and complaining their “work ethic is broken.”

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Columbus, Ohio-  In case you missed it, Vivek Ramaswamy said in a new clip that costs aren’t really rising and Ohio families are just imagining it. But last year alone, Ohio families paid $1,532 more in expenses than the previous year. 

“While Vivek Ramaswamy flies over Ohio in his private jet and lectures us that rising costs are figments of our imagination, Ohioans continue to struggle with costs,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokeswoman Katie Seewer. “Whether it’s telling us rising costs are in their imagination, arguing Medicare and Medicaid are mistakes, or calling our workers lazy, Vivek Ramaswamy can’t be trusted to fight for hardworking Ohioans.”

• Cleveland.com: Ohio consumers’ electric bills likely to jump again as demand outstrips supply of power

• WBNS: Columbus home sales projected to dip in 2026, but prices expected to rise

• Crain’s Cleveland Business: Ohio families, agencies navigate rising costs for basic needs

• Ohio Capital Journal: Ohio cities rank among the most medically expensive, analysis finds

• WTOL: Toledoans pinch pennies as grocery costs outstrip income growth

• Ohio Capital Journal: Ohio’s economic future is hazy, but a recession might be looming, Fed survey indicates

• Columbus Dispatch: Cost of childcare in Ohio is skyrocketing. What can be done about it?

• NBC4: Ohio ranks among states with worst economies, study says | NBC4 WCMH-TV

• Ohio Capital Journal: Cleveland Fed: Businesses report increasing prices, declining activity

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Columbus, Ohio- After calling Ohioans lazy, saying that Medicaid and Medicare were mistakes, and telling struggling families to earn more, Vivek Ramaswamy now says costs aren’t really rising, Ohio families are just imagining it. 

WATCH THE CLIP HERE 

“If billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy believes Ohioans are only imagining that costs are rising, he should tell us exactly which costs he thinks aren’t going up, because those of us without a private jet know that it’s getting harder to make ends meet,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokeswoman Katie Seewer. “We look forward to Ramawamy continuing to run on his platform of calling Ohioans lazy, saying Medicare and Medicaid were a mistake, and our skyrocketing bills are just in our imagination.” 

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Columbus, Ohio- It’s been another bad week for Vivek Ramaswamy. Here’s what you missed this week as this out of touch billionaire who calls Ohioans “lazy” and “mediocre” continues to prove he has no clue what working families are going through and would continue the same failed policies that have made life more difficult and expensive.

Vivek’s Medicaid Mistake:  Unearthed video showed Vivek Ramaswamy calling Medicaid and Medicare a “mistake,” despite the more than 3 million Ohioans who rely on these cornerstone programs to get healthcare and keep costs down. 

Just Make More Money: In a brand new social media blunder, Ramaswamy says that Ohioans struggling with rising costs should simply earn more money in a video posted yesterday. It’s on brand for the guy who called Ohioans “lazy” and mediocre, and shipped his business to Texas. 

Security Scandal: Ramaswamy’s personal security guard scandal continues to haunt him in the news after ARK Protection Group officially shut down earlier this week. Ohioans deserve answers about why Ramaswamy’s team waited weeks to fire their firm following his bodyguard’s late December arrest and why Ramaswamy and his team believe they are above the law.

Greenland > Greene County: While Ohioans struggle to make ends meet, Ramaswamy is spending his time doing Fox News hits about Greenland, 2,000 miles away from the state where he’s running for governor… which we guess isn’t that far when you can fire up the private jet at a moment’s notice! 

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Columbus, Ohio- After Vivek Ramaswamy was caught calling Medicare and Medicaid a “mistake,” a new analysis from Howard Wilkinson shows how Ramaswamy’s own revealing “mistake” shows that in addition to being deeply out of touch with Ohio’s working families, Ramaswamy would again work to raise costs and make the government work only for billionaires and special interests. 

READ: Analysis: Ramaswamy called Medicare and Medicaid ‘a mistake’ | Howard Wilkinson, WXV

• Four little words on an Ezra Klein podcast, uttered in October 2024, are going to haunt Vivek Ramaswamy, the GOP candidate for Ohio governor, from now until the November election.

• Asked by Klein whether or not he believed the creation of Medicare and Medicaid, signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson in 1965, were mistakes, Ramaswamy answered without hesitation.

• “I believe they were,” said Ramaswamy, who was still months away from becoming a candidate for Ohio governor.

• Millions of Ohioans, most of whom vote, will be most interested in hearing Ramaswamy’s views on the social safety net programs they benefit from each and every day.

• But pre-candidacy Ramaswamy expanded on his views in the podcast, and, to date, hasn’t changed his mind, apparently. We wanted to ask him if he wanted to “revise and extend” his remarks, as they say in Congress, but his press handlers did not respond to requests for an interview.

• So all we have is what he said to Ezra Klein in October 2024. Medicare and Medicaid were mistakes, he said, “particularly Medicaid, particularly the welfare state, without the work requirements attached to it.”

• Three months after making these remarks, Ramaswamy spent a couple of weeks under Elon Musk and his DOGE budget-slashing effort (under which government spending actually increased).

• Spurned by DeWine, Ramaswamy decided to run for governor instead, despite never having spent a day in state government.

• Ramaswamy has sworn off posting on social media for the duration of his campaign — probably a wise move, since nearly every time he did, it backfired on him. Such as with his plan for a 365-day school year for kids — an idea so far out that even many Republicans called him out on it.

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