Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH), who is seeking higher office in running against Republican JD Vance for what will be Sen. Rob Portman's (R-OH) open Senate seat, continues to go back on assurances made to voters. Ryan has repeatedly sought to create the image of a "moderate" Democrat, who isn't beholden to leadership and who will work across the aisle.
A new video clip of remarks from Ryan show otherwise, though. While speaking at the North America's Building Trades Unions (NBTU) 2022 legislative conference, Ryan shamelessly sucks up to Senate Majority Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who was in attendance.
"Senator Schumer is here and I want to make sure he's my future boss so I gotta suck up a little bit here," the congressman said while he and members of the audience laughed along.
Vance, who tweeted the clip, drew a sharp contrast between him and his opponent.
Tim Ryan wants Chuck Schumer to be his boss. I’d rather have a senator who knows his boss is the people of Ohio. https://t.co/AbGEbaiC39
— J.D. Vance (@JDVance1) September 22, 2022
A Vance campaign spokesperson provided a statement to Townhall about such remarks from Ryan. "Two-Faced Tim Ryan has wasted millions trying to convince Ohioans of the lie that he's a moderate, but his dishonest campaign has been completely undercut by his own words and voting record. He claims he doesn’t answer to any political party, but he sucks up to Chuck Schumer and votes with Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi 100% of the time. This guy is a total fraud and Ohioans are going to send him packing come November," the spokesperson said.
It's more than just a tweet for Vance, though. Last weekend, Vance spoke at an event in Avon, Ohio, during which he made it a point to highlight how he cares not about what the mainstream media or polls say about the state of the race, but about what Ohioans say.
At that event, Vance acknowledged "we have a tough campaign" because Tim Ryan, who has voted 100 percent with Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi, has run for three months using out-of-state-money, fraudulent TV commercials that frames him as a moderate, or even a conservative," despite how "he has voted for everything that has made this country less free, less prosperous, and less secure."
One TV ad in particular from Ryan portrays him as a moderate, is his "Neighborhood" ad, from June. At one point he claimed "I don't answer to any political party" and that "I answer to the folks I grew up with."
Rep. Ryan has had a bad news cycle as of late. "Tim Ryan" was trending on Wednesday, in part due to the release of a Marist poll. Vance is up 46 percent to Ryan's 45 percent, while a significant 9 percent remain undecided. The poll was conducted September 12-15 and surveyed 1,347 adults with a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points.
Vance has an average lead of +2.2, according to RealClearPolitics. The Hill/Emerson had Vance up +4, while Trafalgar did up +5. Forecasters regard the race as "Lean Republican" or "Likely Republican." Decision Desk HQ also regards the race as "Lean Republican," and gives Vance a 71.2 percent chance of winning.
Others also highlighted Ryan's remarks from last week in which he called into "Morning Joe" and said that we must "kill and confront that movement" of so-called "extremist Republicans." Ironically, Ryan made the comment as an aside when trying to claim he is willing to work with members from either side of the aisle.
As Matt and Mia have highlighted, 41-year-old Shannon Joseph Brandt is accused of killing 18-year-old Cayler Ellingson in McHenry, North Dakota over a "political argument," as the suspect thought the teen was "part of a Republican extremist group."
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