Tim Ryan, J.D. Vance Clash Over Racist ‘Replacement Theory’ In Final Debate

Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan and Republican J.D. Vance concluded Monday night’s Ohio Senate debate with a clash over “replacement theory,” a racist conspiracy that Vance has flirted with on Fox News, but now denies ever backing.

The theory, popularized by the far right and spread by the likes of Tucker Carlson, claims that there’s a broad plot to diminish the power of white people in America by replacing them with people of color.

And it’s no idle threat. The white supremacist ideology allegedly inspired the shooter at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, in May that killed 10 people.

Asked by moderators about the theory at the debate Monday, Vance got a little heated, emphasizing in his reply that his wife is Indian American.

“Here’s exactly what happens when the media and people like Tim Ryan accuse me of engaging in great replacement theory,” Vance said. “What happens is 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 beautiful biracial babies, of engaging in racism.

“We are sick of it. You can believe in a border without being a racist,” he said.

That’s a different tone than Vance adopted in an appearance on Fox News in May, before the Buffalo shooting.

At the time, Vance accused Democrats of attempting to “transform the electorate” via an immigrant “invasion” orchestrated by “very powerful people.”

Democrats, he said, “have decided that they can’t win reelection in 2022 unless they bring a large number of new voters to replace the voters that are already here.”

Vance reportedly made similar comments in an interview with the far-right website Breitbart in April, and repeated them days later at a town hall in Portsmouth, Ohio.

Earlier in the debate, Vance denied he’d ever said conspiracy theorist Alex Jones was a credible source of information. He got caught for that one, too.