Former President Donald Trump announced his endorsement of J.D. Vance Saturday during a Save America rally at Delaware County Fairgrounds, a location known for the annual Little Brown Jug—one of the two most coveted races in the country for Standardbred horses.

Likewise, a Trump endorsement is one of the most coveted validations among the two ruling political parties.

The nod from the 45th president was vigorously pursued by five of the seven grand old party contenders in the 2022 U.S. Senate race to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, including Mike Gibbons, Josh Mandel, Bernie Moreno and Jane Timken.

Trump: “He said some bad shit about me”

Trump’s horse in the race, J.D. Vance, took the stage Saturday about two hours before Trump’s 90-minute speech. Vance initially received a tepid response, but cheers built to a hearty level by the time he finished.

Trump called him back to the stage to speak with the former president by his side and, by then, the energy and ovation was much higher.

“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. And you know what? He’s a guy who said some bad shit about me. He did. He did. 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,” Trump said right before asking Vance to join him on stage.

The surprise in Trump’s move to endorse Vance—a celebrity of sorts who penned “Hillbilly Elegy,” a memoir of a Middletown, Ohio-raised kid and the societal problems he and his family faced—was tamped-down a bit when Donald Trump Jr. defended Vance against attacks from his opponents in late March…. (Excerpt from the Ohio Star)