Tim Ryan Attacks JD Vance For Leaving Ohio One Week Before The House Democrat Attends LA Fundraiser

Ohio Democrat Rep. Tim Ryan blasted his Republican opponent, venture capitalist J.D. Vance, on Wednesday for leaving the state — despite the left-wing Senate nominee scheduled to attend a West Coast fundraiser next week.

“Out of Ohio? Again??” Ryan wrote in response to a picture posted on Twitter of Vance leaving Washington, D.C.’s Capitol Hill Club.

Next Thursday, however, Ryan will be fundraising for his Senate campaign in Los Angeles. According to Puck News reporter Teddy Schleifer, who published a flyer for the fundraiser, the outdoor breakfast reception will include prominent hosts such as left-wing podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen and “Game of Thrones” co-creator D.B. Weiss.

“This hypocritical fraud Tim Ryan cannot help but make a fool of himself,” a spokesman for the Vance campaign told The Federalist on Wednesday. “We know that Tim feels more at home amongst Hollywood elites, so we wish him the very best on his trip to California.”

The congressman’s Wednesday post was not the first time Ryan attacked his Republican rival despite the Democrat’s blatant double standards. Last weekend, the Ryan campaign debuted an ad campaign going after Vance for his attendance at a rally with former President Donald Trump held at the same time as the Ohio State football game in Columbus.

The 30-second “Game Day” ad on Saturday portrayed Vance, whose best-selling memoir about growing up in southwest Ohio jumpstarted his political career, as a West Coast elite out of touch with Ohioans. The six-figure ad was pushed out on Facebook and Instagram.

“Dude just doesn’t get it,” Ryan wrote earlier this month in a post highlighting the Trump rally and the Ohio State University football game against Toledo at the same time.

Ryan, however, did not attend the game either. According to the Daily Mail, Ryan attended a wedding instead.

Yet on game day, Ryan continued to mock Vance’s absence from the Ohio stadium.

“WOW, what a throw!! Did you see that, [J.D. Vance]?” Ryan wrote. “(Lol, just kidding.)”

The two candidates competing to replace retiring Republican Sen. Rob Portman remain neck-and-neck, according to RealClearPolitics’s latest aggregate of polls, which shows a two-point race. While media-sponsored polls are routinely manipulated to serve a pre-determined narrative, however, the Trafalgar Group, one of the most reliable pollsters in the industry, published a survey last month showing Vance up by 5 points.

Former President Trump carried the pivotal battleground in both 2016 and 2020 by 8 points.

Tristan Justice is the western correspondent for The Federalist. He has also written for The Washington Examiner and The Daily Signal. His work has also been featured in Real Clear Politics and Fox News. Tristan graduated from George Washington University where he majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow him on Twitter at @JusticeTristan or contact him at [email protected].