President Donald Trump this week blasted Democrats in Ohio for supporting higher taxes on rich people’s estates after they die, but he may have inadvertently caught a Republican in the crossfire.

Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has argued for a “hefty” inheritance tax in a 2022 book, saying such measures would help return the country to a “culture of excellence.”

At a rally in Youngstown, Trump said Ramaswamy’s Democratic opponent, Amy Acton, and former Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), who is running against Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio) in a bid to return to the Senate, would restore an earlier version of the estate tax that Republicans significantly weakened during Trump’s first term.

The estate tax applies only to the richest 0.2% of households, but Trump spoke as if it would stop parents of modest means from leaving anything to their children.

“I got rid of your inheritance [tax] for farmers and small businesses. And the Democrats want that back on,” Trump said.

“They want it back on fast, the inheritance tax, where you leave your farm or you leave your small business to your children and it gets valued by the federal government.” Trump continued. “You have to go out, pay a big tax, and many of these children go out, they want to keep their farm and they can’t. They lose it to the banks or whatever it might be. And many of them go out and commit suicide.”

The estate tax in the U.S. is technically not an inheritance tax, since the deceased person’s estate pays it before assets are transferred to an heir. Republicans made it so $30 million of a deceased married couple’s estate would be exempt from the tax, so it affects only a tiny number of super-rich households. While they constantly invoke the loss of family farms to argue against the tax, Republicans have long struggled to point to a single family farm or business sold to pay the tax.

It’s not clear what prompted Trump to bring up the estate tax, the part of the Republican tax law that benefits the super-rich more than any other. Trump usually focuses on more popular parts of the law, which Husted voted for last year, such as tax breaks on tips and overtime. He talked about those policies at the rally, while also ranting about Minnesota and seemingly encouraging his supporters to assault a protester.

Brown voted against the earlier version of the tax cuts in 2017, and Democrats generally favor rolling back parts of the law that especially benefit the wealthy.

Neither Acton nor Ramaswamy has taken a position on the estate tax in the governor’s race, since governors don’t set federal tax policy.

But Ramaswamy has, in fact, talked about the estate tax before — and in quite favorable terms.

In his 2022 book “Nation of Victims,” the billionaire entrepreneur claimed that inheritance taxes were “efficient and fair” because, unlike an income tax, they incentivize wealthy people to spend money while they’re alive rather than face heavy taxes after they die.

“[M]ost importantly, a hefty inheritance tax with no gaping loopholes gives us the best of meritocracy while avoiding the worst: people have an incentive to work hard and innovate during their lifetimes, but their children must start fresh, without getting to ride on their parents’ coattails,” Ramaswamy wrote.

The Ohio gubernatorial candidate suggested that any inheritance tax should be “very high,” as much as 59%, if not more. “We shouldn’t allow people to become billionaires just by having rich parents,” he added.

And Ramaswamy held up the inheritance tax as a superior alternative to a wealth tax, claiming it would help return American society to a “merit-based culture of excellence.”

“Yes, by definition preventing parents from creating dynasties is a restriction on their liberty,” he acknowledged. “Civilization itself amounts to a collective agreement for each individual to give up some liberties so the group can prosper.”

It’s unclear whether Ramaswamy, who has vowed to lower Ohioans’ taxes as he runs for the governor’s mansion, has shifted his apparently contradictory views on the inheritance or estate tax. A spokesperson for his campaign did not immediately return a request for comment on his past statements.

Acton campaign spokesperson Addie Bullock, meanwhile, told HuffPost that the Democratic candidate opposed reinstating Ohio’s repealed state inheritance tax.

“Unlike Dr. Acton’s opponent who would make it more difficult for farmers and force Ohio families to pay more in taxes to keep the family business going, Dr. Acton is committed to cutting taxes for Ohioans, including our farmers,” she said in a statement.

Trump’s visit to Youngstown comes under a month before the midterm elections and the Ohio gubernatorial contest, which remains somewhat competitive. Recent polls show Acton with a small lead over Ramaswamy.

In the Buckeye State’s Senate race, most data show Brown with a consistent but small edge over the incumbent Husted.