Source: Politics<\/p>\n
Former President Donald Trump on Saturday evening dialed up the stakes in Ohio’s Senate Republican primary contest, holding a big rally with his endorsed candidate, \u201cHillbilly Elegy\u201d author J.D. Vance.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to pick somebody who\u2019s going to win. And this man is going to win,\u201d Trump said as he introduced Vance to the stage at the Delaware County Fairgrounds, just 10 days before the May 3 election.<\/p>\n
\u201cOhio, do we love this guy?\u201d Vance responded with an exuberant whoop, before repeatedly calling Trump \u201cthe best president of my lifetime.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a guy who said some bad shit about me,\u201d Trump said to laughs from the crowd. \u201cHe did, but you know what? Every one of the others did also. \u2026 But they all came back. Ultimately I put that aside. \u2026 He\u2019s tough. He\u2019s smart. He really is an American First warrior.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was the latest kinetic moment in the contentious race to replace retiring GOP Sen. Rob Portman, with the future of the Senate potentially hanging in the balance in November. It also represented a significant risk to the former president\u2019s position as a Republican Party kingmaker<\/a> ahead of his own potential White House run in 2024. Trump’s endorsement of Vance sparked controversy within his movement, with some followers unhappy with the choice.<\/p>\n In his own address ahead of Trump\u2019s speech, Vance referred to Trump as \u201cthe big man,\u201d adding that the former president embraced \u201call the policies we loved\u201d including on China, big-tech regulation and the building of the southern border wall.<\/p>\n \u201cThe thing that Trump revealed, more than any policy achievement, is that we are living in an incredibly corrupt country,\u201d Vance added, before stating falsely that the 2020 election was stolen and declaring himself \u201cthe American First candidate.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump for his part delivered a familiar red-meat diatribe against the presidential election he lost, undocumented immigrants, foreign heads of state, the media, critical race theory, Democrats and establishment Republicans \u2014 calling them, among other things, \u201chorrible human beings who are destroying our country.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump repeatedly called on the crowd to vote for Vance, slamming Republican groups who opposed the Ohioan. Trump\u2019s son, Donald Trump Jr., has repeatedly visited the state to canvass for Vance, and Trump praised his efforts from the stage. Fox News host Tucker Carlson has also urged Trump to back Vance, as did tech billionaire Peter Thiel.<\/p>\n Trump reportedly sent Club for Growth president David McIntosh an obscenity-laced message when the group pledged to continue its support for former state Treasurer Josh Mandel following Trump\u2019s endorsement. Mandel has also secured the backing of Trump\u2019s former national security adviser Mike Flynn, a MAGA icon.<\/p>\n Vance, previously a venture capitalist, spent more than a year battling for Trump\u2019s endorsement alongside a handful of other candidates \u2014 including a March 2021 \u201cApprentice\u201d-style boardroom sit-down<\/a> audition with the former reality TV star.<\/p>\n Reaction to Trump\u2019s endorsement of Vance was particularly acute among allies of Mandel, the race\u2019s previous frontrunner, and Vance was reportedly<\/a> the only candidate to attend the rally.<\/p>\n Seeking to stave off a Trump endorsement of his rival, Mandel had argued the nod would have little effect on the race. However, Vance has surged to the head of the pack<\/a> in the last week, with a pro-Vance super PAC receiving more than $5 million in new donations.<\/p>\n