Josh Hawley, Charlie Kirk to stump for Vance in Ohio

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Charlie Kirk, the founder of the conservative Turning Point USA, will be stumping for Ohio Republican Senate candidate J.D. Vance in the coming days, Vance’s campaign announced on Thursday.

Hawley and Kirk will be campaigning with Vance on Sunday and Monday across Ohio. 

The two will attend town halls in Cuyahoga Falls, Westlake and Dublin, according to his campaign. Kirk will also participate in town halls in Circleville and Mason.

“As the only candidate in this race endorsed by President Trump, it is time to rally behind JD Vance for U.S. Senate in Ohio,” Hawley said in a statement shared by Vance’s campaign. “JD will make a great Senator, and I look forward to joining him in the Buckeye State.”

Kirk called Vance a “proud American First champion” in his own statement shared by the campaign.

“I proudly endorsed JD in this critical race in September, and I’m excited to get to Ohio to help get his message out to voters and secure his victory on May 3,” Kirk said.

Vance’s campaign announced on Wednesday that Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) are slated to stump with him on Saturday in a series of town halls. 

The Ohio Republican Senate primary is slated for next Tuesday. 

Last weekend, former President Trump held a rally in Ohio in support of Vance after endorsing the “Hillbilly Elegy” author earlier this month.

Earlier in April, more than 30 Ohio Republican leaders had sought to steer Trump away from supporting Vance, given previous comments the candidate had made against him.

Trump acknowledged some of those comments while stumping for Vance on Saturday.

“He’s a guy that said some bad s— about me, he did,” Trump said at a rally. “But, you know what? Every one of the others did also.”

“[In] fact, I went by that standard, I don’t think I would have ever endorsed anybody in the country … They all said bad, but they all came back,” the former president continued.

“The president is right. I wasn’t always nice, but the simple fact is, he’s the best president of my lifetime, and he revealed the corruption in this country like nobody else,” Vance responded later during the rally.