JD Vance’s performance has audience of one: Trump, says former debate opponent

Ohio’s freshman U.S. Sen. JD Vance will make his debate debut Tuesday night alongside Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. The former venture capitalist and author has had some missteps and stumbles since former President Donald Trump selected him as his running mate on the Republican ticket.

In less than two years in the Senate, he’s become a familiar political figure in Ohio. But only one Democrat in the country has had the experience of debating Vance on stage.

That’s Tim Ryan, the former Youngstown-area congressman whom Vance defeated after winning a seven-way Republican primary in 2022, on the strength of Trump’s endorsement.

“I think you'll see somebody being very aggressive at trying to frame the Harris-Walz ticket as super extreme, super out of touch. They'll be blamed for everything and the world's going to end if they get elected,” Ryan said about Vance on the debate stage. “He'll be hitting that hard because he has an audience of one, and that's Donald Trump.”

Vance’s conversion from Trump critic to cheerleader has been well-documented, but his about-face could still come up in the debate.

Ryan said some of Vance’s other controversial statements also seem likely to surface, such as the false and racist rumors he’s repeated about legal Haitian immigrants in Springfield and his negative comments about childless women.

The debate will be a chance for both Vance and his Democratic opponent, Walz, to present their policy positions to the broader American public, as most people are less familiar with them than with their partners on the presidential ticket.

Vance in particular will have to overcome lower favorability ratings.

“I don't know if it's who he really is or who he thinks he really is at this point,” Ryan said.