While Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) likes to portray himself as someone who is willing to go against his party as he seeks higher office, recent statements show he is still very much in line with President Joe Biden when it comes to his rhetoric. The congressman, who is running against J.D. Vance to replace retiring Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH), called into “Morning Joe” on Tuesday, at which point he declared that we need to “kill and confront this movement” of so-called “extremist Republicans.”
Ironically, Ryan has been tardy to speak out on the subject, seeking to underscore his supposed credibility as someone who willingly works with members of both sides of the aisle.
.?@RepTimRyan On ‘Extremist’ Republicans?: ‘We Must Kill and Confront This Movement’ photo: twitter.com/yklr39nMzw
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) September 13, 2022
“The Democrats are wrong about everything,” he admitted, “and I’m willing to sit down and talk about how we can get out of this state of stupidity and into an age of reconciliation and reform. How do we fix all these broken systems? Some of those answers are going to come from Republicans,” Ryan also noted. He then effectively undermined everything he had just said when he explained, “not the extremists that we deal with every day,” and even immediately added, “we have to kill and confront this movement.”
Ryan continued his statement, making it clear that he meant “working together” with people he considers “regular, mainstream Republicans.”
Biden has etched in the minds of Americans what he thinks of his political opponents. He memorably described them as “Maga Republicans,” a term he emphasized in his Sept. 1 speech at Independence Hall in Philadelphia when he said they “represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic.”
Although Biden has tried to backtrack and clarify the phrase, it hasn’t caught on. People still remember the speech, and polls show they don’t like it. Biden and White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also continue to exploit the term.
Rep. Ryan is in line with the president on this issue when it comes to what he thinks of his political opponents.
Vance provided more context for Ryan’s comments during his Tuesday appearance on Fox News’ “Hannity,” and his remarks made Ryan’s comments seem all the more notable considering that the congressman “when he airs his scripted TV ads, he says he wants to appeal to Trump voters, he wants to appeal to the entire state of Ohio.” Vance noted that “but when he doesn’t have a scripted one, Sean, he says we need to ‘stand up and kill’ the entire movement” and that “the majority of Ohioans obviously voted for this movement in 2016 and 2020.” He continued, pointing out that Ryan “is a complete fraud.”
??????
“He’s just a complete fraud. He voted with Joe Biden on every issue, yet he pretends in his TV ads that he really thinks the exact opposite…. The people of Ohio are smart and intelligent and they won’t believe Tim Ryan’s lies.” – @JDVance1 photo: twitter.com/kfRvkodAo1
— Andrew Surabian (@Surabees) September 14, 2022
Vance also told Hannity during the nearly five-minute interview that “if we can tell the truth, Sean, everything will be fine in November.”
Hannity called the race “critical.” It is indeed a race worth watching. Predictions consider the race as “Republican Leaning” or “Likely Republican” and Decision Desk HQ he also thinks that the race is “Republican leaning,” which gave Vance a 73.2 percent chance of winning. RealClearPolitics Vance has a lead of 47 percent, and Ryan has a lead of 44.7 percent.
Vance will appear in Youngstown on Saturday at a Save America rally, where he will meet with former President Donald Trump, who endorsed him in the crowded April primary that helped him cruise to victory.
