Posted on 04/29/2022 5:14:30 PM PDT by conservative98
Ohio GOP Senate candidate Josh Mandel fended off attacks from an opponent calling him a "phony, fraud and sell-out" and stumped with political supporters at a packed auditorium of the Victory Christian Church in Kettering, Ohio, Friday.
Trump-endorsed candidate J.D. Vance accused Mandel of being a Republican in name only (RINO) following reports from an upcoming book that Mandel pretends to be pro-Make America Great Again on the campaign trail but sides with establishment Republicans in private.
"I think people in Washington will make false attacks all the time on people like me because I'm a constitutional conservative and a fighter," Mandel told Fox News Digital at the rally, responding to Vance's comments. "People can call me a lot of names, doesn't make it true."
New York Times reporters Jonathan Martin and Alex Burns briefly described Mandel, a former Ohio state treasurer, of speaking out of both sides of his mouth when it came to supporting former President Donald Trump over establishment Republican leaders like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
"Mandel, acknowledged to Republicans in Washington that he was parroting absurd rhetoric in the primary campaign out of a desire to court Trump and his supporters — but that was simply what he believed it would take to win," Burns and Martin wrote in their book "This Will Not Pass," which will be released May 3.
"In fact even as he publicly mimicked Trump's incendiary rhetoric, Mandel would privately reach out to McConnell's top lieutenants to alert them each time one of his top rivals, J.D. Vance, criticized Washington Republicans — effectively trying to have it both ways with Trump and the GOP leaders he derided."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
In a statement Friday, Vance took the excerpts of the book and said Mandel “claims to be ‘anti-establishment in public, but throws President Trump and the entire MAGA movement under the bus to the establishment behind closed doors.”
“While JD Vance was courageously criticizing GOP leadership and holding them to account for their failures, Mandel was quite literally kissing the ring and bending the knee to the RINO establishment. Josh is a cowardly political chameleon who simply cannot be trusted to put America First,” Vance said.
“Mandel pretends to be pro-Make America Great Again on the campaign trail but sides with establishment Republicans in private.”
Very common.
But this is not about Mandel. It is about not voting for any GOPe or career politician. Mandel may be bad, may not be so bad. Doesn’t matter. It’s not about him.
On an earlier thread a Freeper expressed his opinion that this is Cruz’ play to test the waters regarding his personal influence with the Republican base versus President Trump. I agree with that assessment 100%.
This candidate is another poser. Publicly attempting to ride the MAGA wave. With absolutely no intention of actually supporting the MAGA agenda once ensconced in office. I believe Cruz is well aware of this and could not care less. I agree that this is his attempt to gage his influence with the base as a political calculation regards to his standing with the base of the party.
Cruz is all about Ted’s ambition.
He’s as phony as Mandel.
When he first came on the scene I was taken in, but he showed his true colors soon enough.
His Elmer Gantry act worn thin quickly.
Mandel - Phony as a $3 bill.
Except for Mandel’s service to this country I completely agree with you, you couldn’t have said it better!
“Rep. Gaetz: Mandel Tattling to McConnell on MAGA”. This Gaetz report was just posted to this site moments ago. Gaetz is blowing the lid off of McConnell and Mandel’s collusion.
J.D. "I might vote for Hillary if Trump is the nominee" Vance looked in the mirror, saw his own reflection, and confused it with Josh Mandel!
I always liked Mandel when he saw him on War Room. Then SKB showed a clip to f him praising Portman at an event and calling him his “mentor.” Right then I got suspicious and then he would not say he would not vote for McConnnell if elected. Greitens running in MO said unequivocally “no,” when asked the same question.
I always liked Mandel when i saw him on War Room. Then SKB showed a clip to of him praising Portman at an event and calling him his “mentor.” Right then I got suspicious. In addition, he would not say he would vote against McConnnell if he was elected. Greitens running in MO said unequivocally “no,” when asked the same question.
Mandel is a creep, Vance is a phony. Go Gibbons !
This contest needs to be kept factual, issue oriented, and free of nasty personal attacks.
Are you familiar with politics ?
Who... does... number... two... work... for...?
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