Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday again explained why he endorsed J.D. Vance in Ohio's GOP Senate primary despite the author previously having been a Trump critic.
"He was rough on me, but so was every else," Trump said while appearing on 98.9 FM The Answer's "The Bruce Hooley Show." "But he was pretty 'normal rough,' relatively speaking.
"He came back a long way, as you know. He retracted everything. He said he agreed with my policies. He agreed with everything that we've done. Very, very importantly, I think he became very pro-Trump, and very America first."
Trump spoke while Ohioans went to the polls Tuesday to vote in the Republican primary, which included Vance and fellow candidates: former state Treasurer Josh Mandel; investment banker Mike Gibbons; and Matt Dolan, a state senator and former prosecutor.
The men are running to replace retiring Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio.
Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, is the presumptive Democrat Senate nominee.
"I think J.D. is best suited to win the election because it's not going to be an easy election," Trump told Hooley. "It's probably going to be Ryan, and Ryan's going to have a lot of money. I don't think Ryan's a great candidate, but he's I think he's going to have $50-$60 million to spend, and that's a lot of money."
Trump noted Ryan briefly ran for president in 2019 with an eye on 2020.
"He actually got zero [percent support] and I was surprised — I think he is better than that," Trump told Hooley. "But the fact is that he did very poorly.
"And I think he'll do poorly here, but he's going to have a lot of money to spend."
During a Save America rally in Delaware, Ohio, on April 23, Trump explained his controversial decision to back Vance, "a fearless MAGA fighter" who was once critical of Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.
"I'm very pleased to introduce the man with by far the best chance to defeat the radical Democrat nominee for the U.S. Senate this November," Trump told supporters as he introduced Vance to his supporters.
"You know what? He's the guy that said some bad s**t about me. But you know what? Every one of the others did also. In fact, if I went by that standard, I don't think I would have ever endorsed anybody in the country."
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