J.D. Vance nabs Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene endorsement in packed Ohio Senate primary race

J.D. Vance, the Ohio Senate primary candidate who struggled to take back his previous opposition to former President Donald Trump, announced a major Trump-world endorsement Tuesday in Rep. Majorie Taylor-Greene (R-GA).

“JD Vance is the conservative warrior that the entire America First movement needs fighting for us in the U.S. Senate, and that’s why I’m proud to endorse him,” Taylor-Green said in a statement first shared with Fox News. “If you agree with me that Washington desperately needs more America First fighters in the mold of President Trump, then it’s vital to support JD’s campaign in Ohio.”

A freshman representative, Taylor-Greene is already a notorious national political figure. Twitter permanently suspended her personal account earlier this month over her repeatedly posting COVID-19 misinformation. The House voted last February to strip her of all her committee assignments just one month after being sworn in due to her spreading far-right conspiracy theories, including false claims about QAnon and the Parkland school shooting being staged.

“I am so honored to have Majorie’s support,” Vance wrote in the statement announcing Taylor-Greene’s endorsement. “While I’m in the Senate, Majorie will have an ally, and there will be real consequences for the people destroying our Republic.”

The “Hillbilly Elegy” author made numerous equally inflammatory claims during his Senate campaign. When Kyle Rittenhouse was found not guilty on multiple felony counts of shooting three people and killing two of them at a Black Lives Matter protest in Kenosha, Wis., Vance said Rittenhouse showed “basic manly virtue” during the shootings. When Alec Baldwin allegedly shot two people on production set of the movie “Rust” and killed one, Vance joked about it the next day on Twitter by asking Trump be unbanned so the former president could comment on it. With the latter, Vance defended the tweet last week by saying, “our country is kind of a joke. And we should be able to tell jokes about it.”

However, Vance received significant criticism from the right over his original vocal opposition to candidate Trump back in 2016. Right-wing activists interrupted his campaign events over the former Trump critic quickly embracing him once Trump became president, even though he called the former president “reprehensible.”. Vance has since asked for forgiveness from Republican voters over his past comments, telling Fox News last July, “I ask folks not to judge me based on what I said in 2016, because I’ve been very open that I did say those critical things and I regret them, and I regret being wrong about the guy.”

Vance getting Taylor-Greene’s endorsement could to boost the venture capitalist’s poll numbers in what has been seen as a race to the right and for Trump’s endorsement. A poll published by the conservative Trafalgar Group last December showed former Ohio Secretary of State Josh Mandel leading the crowded Republican primary race at 21%, six percentage points over second-place Vance at 15%.

Trump has yet to endorse a candidate to replace retiring Republican Sen. Rob Portman. But the former president considers Taylor-Greene one of his “favorite people,” and her endorsement of Vance will likely inform Trump’s decision.

Follow Austin on Twitter @AuLinfante