Republican J.D. Vance, running for Ohio’s open United States Senate seat, slammed opponent Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) during the debate Monday night for “sucking up” to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and the national Democrats, claiming he supports his party’s leaders 100 percent of the time.
During the debate, Vance said that Ryan had taken campaign donations from the national Democrats, alluding to the money being donated to him, because he toes the party line and votes with his leadership 100 percent of the time, even though Ryan claims to go against his party:
You’ve taken tens of millions of dollars, Tim, from technology companies, for out-of-state money. What percent of your donors have come from the state of Ohio? A very small share. His entire campaign is based on sucking up to the National Democratic establishment. And of course, they support you, Tim, because you support their policies 100 percent. Now here’s what happened… He says he challenged Nancy Pelosi for leadership. But then he goes on national TV and says that he loves her. Is that the price of challenging Nancy Pelosi? Doing it for what, a few day, before you failed like you’ve done, like with everything you’ve tried to get through for the people of Youngstown? [Emphasis added]
In response to Vance, Ryan said he does not have to hate the speaker:
The quote of me saying ‘I love Nancy Pelosi’ was right before I said I’m running against her. You know why? Because I don’t have to hate anybody. I don’t have to hate Republicans. I don’t have to hate Nancy Pelosi or Joe [Biden]. I don’t have to hate them. … And all I’m saying is I don’t have to hate her. I took her on. I took her on. She was the top Democrat in the entire country, tough as nails. And I stood toe to toe with her and a roomful of 220 of my colleagues, with her sitting in the audience. And I spoke my piece. [Emphasis added]
However, despite what the congressman says, according to ProPublica, he has voted with Pelosi 100 percent of the time, and according to FiveThirtyEight, he has voted with President Joe Biden 100 percent of the time. In fact, Ryan, who has claimed to occasionally be on former President Donald Trump’s side with policy, only voted with him 16 percent of the time.
Additionally, during the last debate, Ryan, who votes with his own party’s leadership 100 percent of the time, said that politicians “who don’t have to guts to stand up to their own party” are a “huge threat to democracy.”
Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jbliss@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter @JacobMBliss.