Sen. Ted Cruz campaigns for J.D. Vance in Medina County, makes fun of opponents

The rally inside a Medina County bar Friday morning was billed as an event to support U.S. Senate candidate J.D. Vance, featuring conservative Texas firebrand, Sen. Ted Cruz.

But Vance spoke only about 10 minutes on stage, followed by Cruz, who spent twice that amount of time doing a biting sort of stand-up comedy routine feeding red meat to the Republican crowd.

Vance, who is locked in a tight race against Democrat Tim Ryan to replace Sen. Rob Portman, introduced himself to the audience, summarizing his life story from his best-selling book "Hillbilly Elegy." He then focused on three topics: Inflation is too high, police need community support and Ohio needs the U.S. border wall with Mexico.

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All struck chords with the audience, though other than opening up pipelines and drilling and cutting government spending, it was unclear how Vance would tackle general inflation, a post-pandemic phenomenon facing countries around the world.

Cruz followed Vance as the headliner, telling a crowd of about 200 that the United States is in crisis and that he was there to offer words of hope and encouragement. But Cruz spent most of his time making fun of the left.

He, too, zeroed in on inflation, ticking off the rising prices of mortgages, food, rent and more.

"It's so bad, Antifa can't afford bricks," Cruz told the crowd, referring to anti-fascists who sometimes show up at protests against police violence, pro-gun rights rallies and Republican events.

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"It is so bad Hunter Biden can't afford crack cocaine," Cruz said, drawing a mix of laughter and surprise from the audience.

Cruz also made fun of President Joe Biden, implying that he was a doddering old man. Cruz said he wanted GOP voters to oust House Speaker Nancy Pelosi so she could ride home to California on her broom. And he ridiculed Dr. Anthony Fauci's height.

The audience appeared to love these jabs.

Cruz didn't mention J.D. Vance was his second choice as the next senator from Ohio. Earlier this year, Cruz campaigned for Josh Mandel, who lost in the primaries to Vance after Vance secured the endorsement of former President Donald Trump.

Cruz appeared at Thirsty Cowboy as part of a bus tour he is doing across the U.S. in the run-up to the November election, a series of meet-and-greets some pundits have suggested is laying the groundwork for Cruz's next run for the U.S. presidency.

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If so, Cruz expanded his contact list Friday, asking everyone in the audience to take out their phones and text a number so they could subscribe to his podcast. That way, Cruz told them, they didn't have to rely on the media, which he half-heartedly joked were made up of "commie pinkos," and get their information directly from him.

Several in the audience appeared to sign up.

November's election, Cruz said, isn't about Republicans or Democrats, or even conservatives or liberals.

"It's about sanity versus insanity," Cruz said.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Ted Cruz rallied for senate candidate J.D. Vance in Ohio Friday