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People are cheering on Ohio Democratic Senate candidate Tim Ryan following critical comments he made about his Republican opponent JD Vance's embarrassing appearance at a rally for former Republican President Donald Trump.
During Vance's fawning appearance at Trump's rally, the former President openly mocked him from the dais, saying Vance was "kissing my a**" in an attempt to land Trump's support.
Ryan seized on the humiliating opportunity, referencing it during their debate and turning it into a moment to perfectly and succinctly contrast their contrasting qualifications for the United States Senate.
\u201cYikes.\n\n#OHSenDebate\u201d— Tim Ryan (@Tim Ryan) 1665446571
Trump's comments towards Vance, which occurred at a rally last month in Youngstown, Ohio left many observers of politics slack-jawed for the way he seemed to mock Vance as a sycophant, mockery Vance seemed to have eaten up.
Here is the debate moment with Youngstown MAGA rally edited in.
\u201cWatch Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) take down J.D. Vance in the Ohio U.S. Senate debate for his undying support for former President Donald Trump.\u201d— HuffPost (@HuffPost) 1665508500
Trump told the crowd:
“JD is kissing my a**, he wants my support so much.”
At the debate between Ryan and Vance, Ryan took the former President's words and turned them into a perfect summation of the Ohio Senate race, saying Trump's comments reveal Vance is "gonna do whatever [Trump] wants."
Ryan also pointed to enormous donations from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's PAC and from right-wing Republican PayPal founder Peter Thiel as indications Vance will be nothing more than a puppet for conservative interests.
But as damning as all that was, it didn't hold a candle to the way Ryan went on to underline how profoundly Vance had been humiliated by the former President and the lack of self-respect and courage Vance showed by lapping it up as if it were praise.
He said:
"After Trump took JD Vance's dignity from him, on the stage in Youngstown, JD Vance got back up onstage and started shaking his hand and taking pictures and saying, 'Hey, aren't we having a great time here tonight?'"
"I don’t know anybody I grew up with, I don’t know anybody I went to high school with, that would allow somebody to take their dignity like that and then get back up on stage.”
"We need leaders who have courage to take on their own party, and I've proven that.
"He was called an a**-kisser by the former President."
Ryan concluded:
"Ohio needs an a**-kicker, not an a**-kisser."
Woo!
Someone call 911 because we got a dead body here.
On Twitter, Ryan's words drew praise with many holding his debate up as a blueprint for how Democrats can win in November.
\u201c@ddeleon08_donny @TimRyan Yes!!!! If only there was more of this! It\u2019s so refreshing to see!\u201d— Tim Ryan (@Tim Ryan) 1665446571
\u201c@jenmercieca @cliffschecter @RexChapman @TimRyan Will it be on YouTube? I\u2019m in CT but \ud83d\udcaf for Tim\u201d— Tim Ryan (@Tim Ryan) 1665446571
\u201c@TimRyan If J.D. Vance is elected he will do whatever the Orange Overlord asks with absolutely zero regard for what\u2019s best for the people of Ohio.\u201d— Tim Ryan (@Tim Ryan) 1665446571
\u201c@indicteddonald @MimiAi @TimRyan Voting for Tim in Ohio!!\u201d— Tim Ryan (@Tim Ryan) 1665446571
\u201c@TimRyan Saying all this about him as though he's not standing literally two feet away.\n\nAnd he just stood there taking it all, proving in real time that he won't do anything to stand up for himself.\n\nAnd if he won't stand up for himself, how will he stand up for anyone else?\u201d— Tim Ryan (@Tim Ryan) 1665446571
\u201c@VanHoAdam @TimRyan @JDVance1 @dscc @TheDemocrats @SenSchumer I agree but I read in the paper (ha!) that he didn\u2019t want endorsements from Biden/party etc and really wanted to \u201cdo it on his own.\u201d He\u2019s awesome and has my Ohio vote!\u201d— Tim Ryan (@Tim Ryan) 1665446571
\u201c@TimRyan I don\u2019t live in Ohio, but Tim\u2019s debate performance inspired a contribution from this Northwesterner. Way to go, Tim (link to donate is on his Twitter bio) @TimRyan\u201d— Tim Ryan (@Tim Ryan) 1665446571
\u201c@TheDudeFromWork @TimRyan I mean he traded on his mother's sickness to write his book that made millions he didn't have much dignity to start from.\u201d— Tim Ryan (@Tim Ryan) 1665446571
\u201c@TimRyan All @JDVance1 has for him is the son of the former President endorsing him. What are Juniors qualifications again ? \n\nEvery other tweet of @DonaldJTrumpJr is criticising Tim Ryan. Not one that proves Vance has an agenda for Ohio. \n\nOhio deserves better than Vance and @Jim_Jordan\u201d— Tim Ryan (@Tim Ryan) 1665446571
\u201c@msseed64 @TimRyan @PalmerReport Did the same last week! Sadly my $ are dried up for the moment, but my starch R mom who lives in Dayton is voting for @TimRyan, so there\u2019s that!!\u201d— Tim Ryan (@Tim Ryan) 1665446571
\u201c@TimRyan Every Dem needs to pay attention to Tim Ryan. He knows what he is doing. Stop being so nice and letting their lies stand. Swing the bat and bring them down.\n\n@CharlieCrist\u201d— Tim Ryan (@Tim Ryan) 1665446571
\u201c@antifaoperative @TimRyan @Acyn Back! Bone!\u201d— Tim Ryan (@Tim Ryan) 1665446571
\u201c@TimRyan TBH I\u2019m pretty \u201cdonated out\u201d (having donated a lot, or at least a lot for me, this year to congressional campaigns) & I am far away from OH. But tonight I was like, \u201cWelp let\u2019s pull that credit card out one more time\u201d. Great job!\u201d— Tim Ryan (@Tim Ryan) 1665446571
After the debate ended, Vance reportedly left the stage and the building quickly instead of attending the post-debate press gaggle with Ryan.
A staffer was sent in Vance's place.
\u201cTim Ryan defeated JD Vance in last nights debate. JD Vance refused to answer questions from reporters after and sent out this guy who was then also defeated by a reporter.\u201d— Adam Parkhomenko (@Adam Parkhomenko) 1665498487
Despite Vance's embarrassing Trump moment, he and Ryan are running at a virtual tie, with Ryan just 0.2% ahead of Vance in the polls.
Here's hoping that lead widens in these last few weeks before November 8.