A week ago, Ohio Senate nominees J.D. Vance (R) and Rep. Tim Ryan (D) sparred in a wild first debate that saw Vance land verbal jab after verbal jab on Ryan, proving once and for all that when it comes to one on ones with his opponents Vance can rise to the occasion.
The second debate, held Monday night in Youngstown, was no different except this time around Vance eviscerated Ryan in a blistering pushback on a core issue during an exchange that will inevitably make it to the highlight reel on local news broadcasts.
At one point one of the moderators predictably asked Ryan his thoughts about the “Great Replacement Theory,” something that is frequently used as a “gotcha” question on Republicans who oppose open borders. In this case, however, the question was asked of Ryan presumably in an effort to tee him up to accuse Vance of supporting such “racist, extremist” theories, which reportedly were behind the mass shootings in El Paso and Buffalo.
And that is exactly what Ryan did:
Vance, however, was having none of it, not even letting Ryan finish before pointing out that Ryan’s lies about his position and constant false accusations of “racism” led to frequent attacks by “scumbags online and in person” on his three biracial children (Vance’s wife Usha is of Indian heritage ).
“We are sick of it,” Vance said during the heated exchange in which he got the best of Ryan. “You can believe in a border without being a racist. You can believe in the country without being a racist.” Vance then turned to Ryan, who he accused of being “desperate” – so desperate that he would “slander” Vance and his family on the issue, calling it “disgraceful.”
Watch:
In another key part of the debate, Vance pointed out that what Ryan said on the debate stage about border security “actually sounds okay” but that it was also further proof that Tim Ryan has two faces, considering he’s “voted for amnesty” multiple times as a member of Congress and voted against border funding “multiple times.” Vance also cleverly pointed out that during one State of the Union address, instead of taking a laid-off steelworker (who Vance said didn’t have a job “because Ryan didn’t do his“), Ryan brought an illegal alien:
On the issue of abortion, Vance turned the tables on Ryan as he did in the first debate by painting Ryan as the real extremist when it comes to so-called abortion rights:
Vance also hit Ryan on his support for eliminating cash bail, an issue which puts Ryan squarely on the side of the large soft-on-crime wing of the Democratic party at a time when crime concerns are a top issue for voters:
The centerpiece of Vance’s campaign has been to accurately portray Ryan as a man who says one thing when he’s in Ohio but does something else once he’s in Washington, D.C. On the campaign trail and in both debates, Vance has done a great job of making his case on that front and then some, which in my opinion is a big reason why he has maintained a lead against Tim Ryan in most polling to date.
Of course, anything can happen in the next two weeks but I think Vance has more than held his own throughout the course of the campaign while rejecting and refuting tiresome stereotypes about Republicans and exposing Ryan as a fraud in the process. More, please.
Related: Tim Ryan, Call Your Office