Democrat Tim Ryan called his Republican opponent J.D. Vance a Donald Trump ass kisser in the first debate Monday night between the two U.S. Senate candidates from Ohio while also emphasizing areas such as trade and immigration on which he and the former president seem to agree.

Ohio needs an ass kicker, not an ass kisser, Ryan, a congressman from the Youngstown area, told Vance in what instantly became the most viral moment from the debate in Cleveland.

Its a well-rehearsed line, Tim, Vance said under his breath after Ryans zinger.

Ryans line was referring to an almost exact quote from Trump during a September rally for Vance, a former Never Trumper who nonetheless won the GOP primary with Trumps endorsement.

Trump took J.D. Vances dignity from him on the stage in Youngstown. Then J.D. Vance got back up on stage and started shaking his hand. ... I dont know anybody I went to high school with that would allow somebody to take their dignity like that and then get back up on stage, Ryan said.

We need leaders who have the courage to take on their own party, and Ive proven that. [Vance] was called an ass kisser by the former president.

Ryan and Vance, who are locked in a closer-than-expected race to replace retiring Republican Rob Portman in a red-leaning former swing state, spent the majority of the hourlong debate trying to paint each other as extremists. Ryan has made that argument over the airwaves while Vance has attempted to tie Ryan to President Joe Biden , who lost Ohio by 8 percentage points in the 2020 presidential election.

Tim Ryan, who runs all these TV commercials saying he wants to appeal to Trump voters, wants to appeal to Republicans , also says he wanted to kill and confront ... the MAGA movement. Thats not exactly the rhetoric of a unifier, said Vance, who also accused Ryan of being extremist for supporting the Equality Act, a bill that bans discrimination based on gender and sexuality orientation.

Ryan said that Vance is running around with Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida who wants to ban books; running around with Lindsey Graham, who wants a national abortion ban. Youre running around with Marjorie Taylor Greene, whos the absolute looniest politician in America. This is a dangerous group, and we do need to confront it. Thats why Im running to represent the exhausted majority Democrats, Republicans and independents.

The congressman, a former presidential candidate, is one of the few Democrats who are trying not only to distance themselves from Biden but also to win over Trump voters.