As influential as Trump was in the Republican primaries, his influence in a general election remains uncertain. But Republicans working to retake the Senate now find themselves in a scenario in which the nominees Trump helped nominate are now central to any hope of controlling the chamber in 2023. To do just that, Trump has hit the road. The former president headlined a rally two weeks ago in Pennsylvania where Oz spoke and the former president praised the famous doctor, if only briefly. Trump is scheduled to headline a rally in North Carolina on Friday with U.S. Rep. Ted Budd, the state’s Senate candidate who has the former president’s endorsement, and later in Michigan with a range of candidates he has endorsed. “I agreed with Trump on trade,” Ryan said in a television ad over the summer. “I voted against outsourcing every time.” Trump clearly took note of Ryan’s strategy — his rally Saturday was in Youngstown, the heart of Ryan’s congressional district. “Look at my poll numbers. I think he’s running, JD, with an I love Donald Trump policy,” Trump said of Ryan, adding, “He doesn’t like me and I don’t like him. He’s been terrible.” By rallying in Youngstown, Trump is entering the territory that shaped Ryan. Raised in nearby Niles, Ohio, Ryan has represented the community throughout his political career, making it and around Mahoning County synonymous with his pro-union Democratic politics. But Mahoning has been leaning Republican after being a Democratic stronghold for years: Trump in 2020 was the first Republican presidential candidate to win the county since Richard Nixon in 1972. “I won his district by a very wide margin,” Trump said, adding, “We won Ohio twice … We won it in two landslides and now we have to give JD a landslide.” One way Ohio Democrats have tried to win over Trump voters is by calling Vance a phony, repeatedly noting that it wasn’t until 2016 that the now-Trump-backed Senate candidate criticized the former president. “Yeah, he said some bad things about me,” Trump said with a smile, acknowledging Vance’s earlier criticism. “But that was before he met me. And then he fell in love.” Trump’s remarks were peppered with his trademark grievance politics. The former president said, “for six straight years I have been harassed, investigated, defamed, slandered and persecuted” like no other president in history, adding that people “are not just after me, but through me.” However, his complaints were not limited to Democrats. While complaining about inflation, Trump said, “Mitch McConnell better get the ball rolling and stop it in the Senate. He’s like a Democrat.” And Trump also put the onus on Vance to stand up to the Senate Republican leader and “get him out of there.” “Mitch McConnell is a disgrace and I hope you do something about it, J. D.,” Trump said, putting Vance in a difficult position since the Senate Majority PAC, a group with close ties to McConnell, was forced to reserve $28 million in television ad time in Ohio, an expense that no Republican would wait for the match earlier in the cycle. By the end of June, Ryan had collected $21.8 million in the 2022 cycle, compared to just $3.5 million for Vance. The Democrat entered the second half of the year with a 5-to-1 advantage over his GOP opponent. And in Vance’s case, the money issues extend beyond his own fundraising. To pass the primary, Vance needed the outside support of billionaire tech mogul Peter Thiel, who poured millions into a pro-Vance super PAC. The money Thiel spent to boost Vance even emboldened Trump to support the Republican nominee. But once Vance dropped out of the primary, Thiel stopped spending on his pro-Vance effort, causing major rifts between the PayPal co-founder and Republicans like McConnell, who pressured Thiel to spend more on her campaigns Senate. Much of Trump’s speech focused on his personal politics more than Vance or others. Trump continued to tease a 2024 run — something he’s been doing for months. “I ran twice, I won twice,” Trump said, before adding that he “might have to do it again.” The crowd erupted as Trump continued to lie about the 2020 election, a sign of how election denial remains a key motivator for the former president’s supporters. “Stay tuned everybody. Stay tuned,” he added. Trump was scheduled to begin his speech at 7 p.m. ET, the same time the Ohio Buckeyes kicked off against the Toledo Rockets less than 200 miles away in Columbus. Vance, who graduated from Ohio State, said he thought the rally would end at 8:30 p.m. ET so people can go and watch the second half. Trump began speaking at 7:44 p.m. ET and didn’t end until 9:25 p.m. ET — when the Ohio State game was well into the third quarter with Ohio State leading 49-21. Trump acknowledged the Ohio State football game, saying, “You have a football game going on and it didn’t affect that crowd.” Democrats responded to the Trump rally by largely dismissing it as less important than the Ohio State game. “I was too busy watching football, but I’m sure whatever fake San Francisco JD Vance and his out-of-state allies tried to talk to a half-empty stadium would ring hollow with all the Ohioans who were also busy. coordination on the Ohio State-Toledo game,” said Jordan Fuja, a spokesman for Ryan who was at the Ohio State game Saturday night. The scene around the event was like most other Trump rallies, with some of the former president’s staunchest aides milling around as his loyal supporters lined up for hours to get inside. Among them was Mike Lindell, who said Tuesday that the FBI served him with a grand jury subpoena for the contents of his phone as part of an investigation into a breach of election security in Colorado. Trump did not mention Lindell from the stage.
