If there are two things consistent about Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), it’s in how he’s a) consistently inconsistent and b) routinely talks out of both sides of his mouth depending on who he’s addressing and/or standing next to, because apparently, that’s how a guy who has declared himself in so many words to be his “own man” and not beholden to any one political party is supposed to operate.
Case in point, his position on student loan debt relief, which he previously supported both in the U.S. House and as a (failed) Democratic candidate for president in 2020. What he was on board with at the time was similar to the plan forced on the American people by President Joe Biden in August of this year, but at that time Ryan was trying to win over the Democratic faithful.
Nowadays, as Ohio’s Democratic Senate nominee Ryan is trying to win over middle-of-the-road voters and conservative Republicans by switching gears on the issue, claiming the relief should come from tax cuts “for working people that will affect everybody.”
During a recent radio interview, however, Ryan was again confronted on his dueling positions on student loan forgiveness, and no matter how he tried to tapdance around it, the host would not let him off the hook.
Listen below as the host just wrecks Ryan by repeatedly telling him that what he was doing was straight-up flip-floppery, and as Ryan has no good counter-answer for it:
Ryan’s Republican opponent J.D. Vance responded accordingly.
“This is brutal,” Vance tweeted in response. “Tim Ryan just repeatedly refuses to directly address his flip flopping, on this and many other issues.”
Another issue Ryan has tried to have it both ways on is if President Biden, who he has voted with 100% of the time, should run again. On the same day Ryan called for “generational change” in Washington, D.C., he attended a Biden event in Ohio where the POTUS was promoting “the construction of a new computer chip factory.” On a prior visit to Ohio, however, Ryan managed to avoid Biden.
As I’ve noted before, Ryan is just a total fraud. In addition to falsely painting himself as his own man, Ryan’s general election campaign message has also revolved around suggesting Vance is out of touch with average Ohio voters, is not a “real” Ohioan, is nothing more than a Trump stooge (the latter of which is rather interesting, considering Ryan’s latest ad), and is too extreme for Ohio.
But when push has come to shove, Ryan has shown himself to be everything he accuses Vance of being: a liar, an out-of-touch elitist, not authentic enough to pass the “real Ohioan” test (by his own standards), and too extreme for Ohio – particularly on issues like abortion, the gender identity politics debate, and dealing with “MAGA Republicans.”
Ultimately it’s up to Ohio voters to decide if they want a guy like Ryan representing them in any capacity in Washington, D.C. But with any luck, hopefully, voters will get to know the Congressman much better between now and election day and come to the same conclusion others have of Ryan, that he’s a con artist and is no good for the Buckeye State.
Related: CNN Polling Guru Drops More Bad News on Democrats Ahead of Midterm Elections