Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH), who is running for the open Senate seat to be vacated by Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) made some problematic remarks about inflation as it applies to Sen. Joe Manchin's (D-WV) opposition to the radical spending bill Democratic leadership is trying to ram through. His comments came during Wednesday's episode of CNN's "Inside Politics."
Host Abby Phillip asked Ryan about Manchin's view, pointing out "and Senator Manchin cited inflation largely as the reason why he thought that Democrats need to hold off on this for now," asking "do you buy that as a reason to maybe go slowly on legislation like this? And also, I mean, you've talked about inflation in the Senate race. You know, how big of a concern that it is for voters?"
While Ryan did start off by acknowledging how inflation is affecting people. "People are getting crushed. I mean, there's no question, there's no denying how difficult these past few months have been for working class people all over this country. The gas prices, the food prices, the supply chain lock up, the whole nine yards, it's been brutal." He then went on to tout how he's "calling for a tax cut" and went with the Democratic talking point that "we're seeing gas prices start to come down."
The most damning part came at the end of his response, when he claimed "I don't think inflation is really an issue when it comes to investing into the jobs of the future."
Whatever Ryan may have acknowledged, no voter wants to hear any candidate say they "don't think inflation is really an issue when it comes to" anything. Polls consistently show that inflation is a top issue for voters.
Ryan response went unquestioned by Phillip, who moved to the state of the race between him and his Republican challenger, JD Vance.
Vance took note of Ryan's remarks, sharing from his Twitter account a Breitbart article highlighting Ryan's segment.
While Joe Manchin had the courage to stand against his party on legislation that will crush jobs and further increase inflation, Tim Ryan bent the knee to Biden and Pelosi. This will hurt Ohio, but Tim doesn’t care. He didn’t go to DC to serve the voters. https://t.co/PVqfKoMvjW
— J.D. Vance (@JDVance1) July 21, 2022
Despite some claiming it is anyone's race, prognosticators favor Vance. Inside Elections even considers the race to be "Solid Republican," while Cook Political Report regards it as "Lean Republican" and Sabato's Crystal Ball says it's "Likely Republican."