Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) has come under fire after reportedly launching a six-figure ad campaign targeting Republican challenger J.D. Vance for scheduling a rally on the same day as an Ohio State University football game — only to miss out on the game himself.
The criticism comes after Ryan, who is running to replace Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) in November, launched an ad series over the weekend mocking Vance for scheduling a rally with former President Donald Trump on the same day as Ohio State’s game against the University of Toledo. The ad hit at Vance as being out of touch with voters, following it up with a tweet that says, “Dude just doesn’t get it.”
JD VANCE GROWS LEAD OVER TIM RYAN IN OHIO SENATE RACE: POLL
However, on the day of the game, neither candidate was in attendance.
While Vance was seen hosting his rally alongside Trump, Ryan was seen officiating a family wedding on the day of the football game, according to the Daily Mail — prompting backlash from his Republican challenger.
“Tim Ryan has not only spent the last two weeks childishly attacking J.D. Vance for missing the very Ohio State game that he himself knew he was going to miss, he even had his staff live tweet commentary of the game from his Twitter account to deceptively cover up the fact that he wasn’t watching,” a spokesperson for Vance’s campaign told the Washington Examiner, referring to a tweet from Ryan’s Twitter account that insinuated he attended the game. “On issues big and small, Tim Ryan has once again proven that he’s willing to lie about anything to try to trick Ohioans into voting for him. What a shameless fraud.”
Vance holds a comfortable lead over Ryan in the Ohio Senate race, positioning himself with a lead of 4 percentage points less than two months before Election Day.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Roughly 44% of voters say they’d back Vance in the election, compared to just 40% for Ryan, according to a new poll from Emerson College and the Hill, giving a sign of hope to Republicans in a high-profile race that is likely to determine which party will control the Senate for the next two years. Another 13% said they were still undecided, and 3% said they’d vote for someone else.
A spokesperson for Ryan’s Senate campaign did not respond to a request for comment by the Washington Examiner.
