Ohio Democratic Senate candidate Rep. Tim Ryan slammed his Republican opponent J.D. Vance during a televised debate Monday, calling him an “ass-kisser.”
Ryan referenced a comment former President Trump made at a Youngstown rally last month where he said to laughs, “J.D. is kissing my ass, he wants my support so much.”
The Democratic candidate invoked the remark to take aim at Vance, claiming he would do “whatever” Trump wants.
“I’m from Ohio. I don’t kiss anyone’s ass like him. Ohio needs an ass-kicker, not an ass-kisser,” Ryan added.
“I don’t know anybody I grew up with, I don’t know anybody I went to high school with, that would allow somebody to take their dignity like that and then get back up onstage.”
Ryan’s team touted a clip of the exchange on his Twitter account, while Vance retweeted another clip from the debate shared by Donald Trump Jr. who said, “Vance just KO’d Tim Ryan.”
Both Ryan and Vance exchanged barbs all night long on a variety of issues from party leadership to extremism and China.
While Ohio has swayed to the right in recent years — Trump won the state in 2016 and 2020, both times by 8 points — recent polling shows Ryan and Vance in a statistical dead heat.
The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the race as “lean Republican.”