Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan is not backing down as he faces blowback from some in his party for an ad in his Senate campaign that repeatedly blames China for workers’ economic woes.
“It is us versus China,” Ryan says in the one-minute montage of his speeches, many at union halls and to audiences wearing blue-collar uniforms. “And instead of taking them on, Washington is wasting our time on stupid fights.”
The ad, part of a $3.3 million campaign running across the state, attracted immediate backlash from Democratic groups promoting Asian American issues. New York Rep. Grace Meng, the vice chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, called on Ryan to stop airing it. Shekar Narasimhan, the chairman of AAPI Victory Fund, a super PAC that supports Asian American and Pacific Islander candidates, likened it to tactics inciting “hate” and “fear” used by Republicans emulating former President Donald Trump.
