Here's What the Former Democratic Congressman Who Lost to Vance Had to Say Ahead of VP Debate

On Tuesday, ahead of the vice presidential debate between Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) and Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), former Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) was asked to weigh in on Vance, who was once his opponent. Ryan, who served as a congressman for Ohio from 2003-2023, faced Vance in the U.S. Senate race for 2022 to replace retiring Republican Sen. Rob Portman.

As Fox News highlighted as part of the coverage ahead of the debate, Ryan chimed in during an episode of Slate's "What Next" podcast:

“To me, he's just a scared little boy behind the beard, and he wants everyone else to be as scared as he is,” Ryan said during an interview with Slate’s “What Next” podcast, which released Tuesday ahead of the debate.
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Ryan claimed during the interview that the upcoming debate would prove an “interesting contrast” between the candidates.
“I think Tim Walz is a good contrast to JD Vance. There's an authenticity there. There's a real ness there. There's a likeability there,” Ryan said.
When the host noted that Walz seemed “happier” than Vance, Ryan agreed and quipped that it was a “low bar” for Walz to clear.

The podcast episode with the far-left outlet was billed as Ryan offering advice to Walz, but why would the Democrat want advice from a loser? Then again, Walz is reportedly feeling very nervous, so perhaps he'll take advice from just about anyone. Further, as the podcast host admitted about the Vance-Ryan debates, "JD Vance seemed incredibly prepared, like he had studied for this, and it felt like you were in the middle of a college level debate."

When it comes to those Vance-Ryan debates, the former congressman also had plenty of meltdowns and went for personal attacks against Vance's family, as we covered at the time. Vance, who even earned praise from Slate as one can see in the excerpt, also had rather positive moments he was remembered for during the debate. Ryan fared no better during a Fox News town hall event.