I’m not sure Tim Ryan did all his pre-debate reading.
Ryan, a career politician currently serving his 10th term in the U.S. House, debated “Hillbilly Elegy” writer JD Vance last night, 22 days before Ohio voters will decide which of them will become their next senator.
Near the end of the debate, Ryan accused Vance of racism, claiming the Republican nominee was a believer in the “Great Replacement Theory,” because … well, because Ryan is a Democrat and that’s what Democrats do.
Ryan offered scant evidence for what he said Vance was “peddling”: namely, the idea that Democrats are engaged in a “grand conspiracy” to replace whites in the U.S. with people of other races.
That, of course, is nonsense, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t people who believe it. There are people, after all, who believe the earth to be flat. Or Clive Cussler to be a good writer. Or “The Mirror Has Two Faces” to be a good movie.
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In short, you can fool some of the people some of the time.
But accusing a white congressman with an Asian wife of racism? I’m not saying it’s impossible to prove … but the burden of proof is substantially higher than it might be if you were to, say, accuse a man wearing a sheet on his head, or maybe one who described Barack Obama as having “no Negro dialect unless he wanted to have one.”
Here’s how it turned out for Ryan last night: First, Ryan described the Buffalo shooter, who was reportedly influenced by some Great Replacement Theory writers (and who was also insane), as having “all these great Replacement Theory writings that JD Vance agrees with.”
That was half of the evidence Ryan offered during the debate that Vance is a replacement theorist. The other half consisted of the claim that Vance “runs around with” extremists — Marjorie Taylor Greene and Ted Cruz were the only two “extremists” he named — whom Ryan also claimed, without evidence, were replacement theorists.
Will Republicans gain control of the Senate?
That’s the sum of the argument on the Democrat’s side. The fact that Ryan delivered his “argument” with all the energy and conviction of Jeb Bush on Quaaludes didn’t help him any.
Vance responded animatedly and from a more personal vantage point, as the father of biracial children.
“This is disgusting,” Vance said. “Here’s exactly what happens when the media and people like Tim Ryan accuse me of engaging in the Great Replacement Theory.”
“You were peddling it,” Ryan interrupted sleepily. Then he said it again, as if repetition might make up for the dearth of vigor. (It didn’t.)
“I’ll tell you exactly what happens, Tim. What happens is that my own children, my biracial children, get attacked by scumbags online and in person because you are so desperate for political power that you’ll accuse me, the father of three biracial babies, of engaging in racism.”
Honestly, the look on Ryan’s face at this point makes me think that he regretted bringing up the issue in the first place.
“We are sick of it,” Vance said. “You can believe in a border without being a racist. You can believe in the country without being a racist. And this just shows how desperate this guy is for political power. I know you’ve been in office for 20 years, Tim, and I know it’s a sweet gig, but you’re so desperate not to have a real job that you’ll slander me and slander my family. It’s disgraceful.”
Well. I don’t see how even Ryan’s campaign manager could call that a win for his team. (She’ll probably find a way, though.)
I’ll cue up the video of the debate to the portion cited above, but if you want, you can watch the entire thing here:
Ryan apparently thought he had further evidence of Vance’s support for the Great Replacement Theory in this video he shared on Twitter:
FACT CHECK: JD Vance did support the Great Replacement Theory. Roll tape.pic.twitter.com/BoKuo2eizh
— Tim Ryan (@TimRyan) October 18, 2022
I can describe the describe the substance of the Great Replacement Theory in two words: Gar. Bage.
The same two words could describe the entirety of Tim Ryan’s argument that Nance subscribes to that theory.
Actually, I’d probably add a third word in front of those two. But my editor would just censor it.
