Author JD Vance’s candidacy for the much-contested Republican seat in the U.S. Senate in Ohio was boosted Friday when he was backed by his former opponent, Donald Trump.
Approval in the Republican primary race came after the 37-year-old Vance withdrew from previous criticism of Trump in a charming offensive aimed at securing his support in the race – which is expected to be largely decided by supporters of the former president.
Trump gave the desired nod to Vance in front of rivals Josh Mandel, Mike Gibbons and Jane Timken, calling him “the candidate who is the most qualified and ready to win in November,” in a statement.
“It’s all about winning!” he added.
During the 2016 campaign, the venture capitalist and author of Hillbilly Elegy called Trump “harmful”, “condemning” and “idiot” before declaring last summer that he was a “good president” while throwing his hat in the ring. .
After that conversation, Vance became friends with Trump’s allies and reiterated many of his views on trade and immigration during frequent appearances on the Steve Bannon and Fox News podcasts.
Trump hinted at past insults to the former Marine while giving his seal of approval.
Trump said Vance is “the candidate who is most qualified and ready to win in November.” AP Photo / Chris Seward
Vance “may have said some not-so-great things about me in the past,” but “he understands it now, and I saw it at the peak,” Trump said.
Trump also congratulated Vance’s rivals, who often traveled to his Palm Beach complex, repeated his lies about election fraud and spent millions to hire and join former aides.
“It’s not easy to make this approval because I like and respect some of the other candidates in the race – they said great things about Trump.”
Most of Vance’s neglected rivals rejected the approval and continued to defend Trump’s dignity, as fellow Republican candidate Matt Dolan accused them of “embracing lies and undermining the Constitution to go all-in for approval.”
“They have made their candidacies cheaper and the integrity of the service they want to achieve with campaigns that are now in chaos as ballots run,” the state senator said.
The winner of the primary will face Democratic Senator Tim Ryan in November.
According to RealClearPolitics, Mandel maintains an average lead of 1.7 points over Vance Friday.
Trump’s announcement came a week after he played kings in the US Senate race in Pennsylvania, throwing his support behind Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz.
With AP wires
Add Comment