Buckeye Reporter

"Never Trump" Republican journalist Charlie Sykes said Ohio GOP U.S. Senate Candidate J.D. Vance is "dishonorable" and "a disgraceful troll" for opposing the sending of U.S. troops to Ukraine.

"Vance engaged in this bit of performative assholery yesterday, when the one-time best selling author and now deplorable senate candidate lashed out at (U.S. Military) General Barry McCaffrey, who had — quite accurately — described Vance as a “stooge for Russian aggression," Sykes wrote on his web site, The Bulwark.

Vance had slammed McCaffrey, who served in President Bill Clinton's cabinet, as an advocate of aggressive U.S. involvement in the the Ukraine conflict with Russia.

"Your entire time in military leadership we won zero wars," Vance wrote on Twitter. "You drank fine wine at bullshit security conferences while thousands of working class kids died on the battlefield. Oh by the way, how much do you stand to gain financially from a war with Russia, Barry?"

McCaffrey responded that Vance "is a shameful person unsuitable for public office. His comments are those of a stooge for Russian aggression."

On Mon Feb 21, Vance said he believes U.S. leaders should have priorities other than Ukraine.

"What's happening in Ukraine has nothing to do with our national security, but it is distracting our idiot "leaders" from focusing on the things that actually do matter to our national security, like securing the border & stopping the flow of Fentanyl that's killing American kids," Vance wrote.

Sykes and longtime Republican political commentator Bill Kristol founded the The Bulwark in 2018, with a stated mission of using the site to oppose President Donald Trump. Both urged Republicans to vote for Joe Biden over Trump in 2020.

Kristol raised $35 million in the 2020 election cycle for his anti-Trump non-profit, called Defending Democracy Together. It spent $6 million on its "Republican Voters Against Trump" project, according to the group's tax filing with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service.

"Never Trump" Bulwark opinion columnist Mona Charen attacked Vance when he announced his candidacy for U.S. Senate last spring, saying Vance "had joined the (Trump supporter) jackals" and calling him a "Trumpist troll."

"Vance is an extremely bright and insightful man who could have been a fresh voice for a fundamentally conservative view of the world," she wrote. "But a funny thing happened after the introduction of J.D. Vance, anti-Trump voice of the working class. He began to drift into the Trump camp. I don’t know why or how, but Vance became not a voice for the voiceless but an echo of the loudmouth."

Vance, 37, grew up in Middletown and is the author of the best-selling book, Hillbilly Elegy. He served in the U.S Marines from 2003-2007 before graduating from The Ohio State University and Yale University Law School. He later worked as a venture capitalist with PayPal founder Peter Thiel.

Vance is one of seven candidates vying to win the GOP nomination to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH). Others include State Senator and Cleveland Indians owner Matt Dolan of Chardon, Investor and business owner Mike Gibbons of Cleveland, former Ohio State Treasurer Josh Mandel of Lyndhurst and former Ohio GOP Chairman Jane Timken of Cincinnati. The primary is May 3.