Trump and JD Vance mocked for scheduling rally at same time as Ohio State football game

The rally will take place during the Ohio State University football game against the University of Toledo.

Former president Donald Trump will hold a campaign rally in Youngstown, Ohio, for Republican Senate candidate JD Vance.

There’s just one problem: The rally takes place at 7:00 pm, which is the the same time that the Ohio State University will play the University of Toledo.

That means many people will likely be watching the game in football-fanatic Ohio. ESPN put the Buckeyes as number three in their college football power rankings after their 21-10 victory against Notre Dame’s Fighting Irish.

Representative Tim Ryan, Mr Vance’s Democratic opponent, mocked the timing of the rally.

“Dude just doesn't get it,” Mr Ryan tweeted.

The rally comes amid concerns that Mr Vance, whom Mr Trump endorsed in the GOP primary for Senate, is missing in action in the state. Mr Vance shot to prominence after he wrote the bestselling book Hillbilly Elegy after his work for Peter Thiel’s firm Mithril Capital. The book’s release concurred with Mr Trump’s ascent within the Republican Party and seemed to explain his appeal to white-working class voters.

Mr Vance had previously criticised Mr Trump and speculated whether he was “America’s Hitler.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s Senate Leadership Fund plans to drop $28m in the race.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the Buckeye State’s race to replace retiring Senator Rob Portman as “Lean Republican.”

Ohio is no longer the bellwether swing state it once was. An Emerson College poll last month showed Mr Vance only beating Mr Ryan by three points in a state Mr Trump won by eight points in 2020.

Despite the fact that Mr Ryan has voted with President Joe Biden 100 per cent of the time, according to FiveThirtyEight, he’s highlighted in ads how he has broken with Democrats on many issues and criticised Mr Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan.