Two Senate candidates from Ohio nearly got into a fight Friday night during a crowded primary debate after getting into a heated argument about Chinese oil and whether it “worked” or not.
Republican candidates Mike Gibbons, 69, a businessman, and Josh Mandel, 44, a veteran, both from Cleveland, became heated and worried during Gibbons’ speech, where the young man accused him of “making millions” from Chinese oil.
In a video posted to Twitter, the former Marine began attacking the businessman over his assets in China, saying, “You have filed with the federal election commission to buy Chinese oil shares.”
Gibbons, whose assets range from $83 million to $286 million according to financial disclosures from his Senate campaign, countered, “Personally, I didn’t buy shares.”
But Mandel, the former Ohio state treasurer who disclosed assets worth at least $2.2 million, wouldn’t have dismissed the businessman and investment banker so easily by firing back from his seat on the stage: “But you made millions from it, sir.”
Gibbons brushed it off, turning to the stage as if he was about to continue his speech, saying, “I don’t think I’ve made millions on anything. I would like to make millions from Chinese oil.”
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Senate candidates Mike Gibbons, 69 (left, standing) and Josh Mandel, 44, (right) went head-to-head in a primary debate after Mandel attacked the father-of-five’s financial assets in China, saying he ” made millions.” ‘ there
Mandel appeared annoyed with Gibbons, whose net worth ranges from $83 million to $286 million, and said he “didn’t think he made millions off anything”.
Gibbons went on to say that the former Marine “didn’t know the squat” because he had never worked in the private sector, to which Mandel replied that he had served two terms in Iraq and told the businessman, “Don’t tell me I didn’t work.” ‘ At some point, someone had to try to separate the two men while they were arguing about money and life experiences.
Mandel immediately transferred to Gibbons two Chinese assets – Shanghai Shenda and Chinese oil.
Mandel alleged that Gibbons sold Ohio businesses such as Perfect Fit LLC, which makes and sells police accessories, to the Shanghai Shenda textile company in China. The father of five also owns shares in Chinese oil companies, according to his Federal Trade Commission (FTC) portfolio.
Financial transparency appears to be important to Mandel, who introduced OhioCheckbook.com to the state when he was treasurer. According to its website, the website – “the first of its kind” – allowed Ohioans to view $690 billion in government spending.
But he certainly doesn’t discern how people use their money, as he also introduced OhioCrypto.com, making Ohio the first state to allow taxpayers to use crypto to pay taxes, a self-proclaimed “Pro-God, Pro-Gun, Pro.” – Bitcoin Candidate said on his website.
During their Friday debate, Gibbons strikes by telling the Marine Corps veteran that he “might not understand” the private sector. He said, “Perhaps you don’t understand this because you’ve never been in the private sector in your life.”
The father of three told Gibbons to “move off”, and when Gibbons told him he was messing with “the wrong dude”, Mandel replied that he wasn’t.
Gibbons has equity ties to Chinese oil companies, and Mandel alleged that Gibbons sold the Ohio business to Shanghai Shenda, a Chinese company.
“Yes,” Mandel retorted, rising from his seat and lining up to face Gibbons. – I’ve been working, sir.
Gibbons went on to speak, belittling the former Ohio House representative by saying, “You don’t know squats.”
Mandel, who graduated first from boot camp and in his class at the Marine Corps Intelligence School, didn’t take it lightly, pointing his finger at Gibbons’ face and saying, “Two tours in Iraq, don’t tell me I didn’t work. Don’t tell me I didn’t work.
The crowd even intervened as there was a collective “ooooh” following the verbal thump.
Gibbons groped for a comeback before landing again on “You don’t know squats.”
Mandel once again reminded him that he had two tours in Iraq. The Republican nominee served two terms in the reserve in 2000 and served two terms in Iraq’s Anbar Province, where he was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Meritorious Service Medal for “excellent performance of his duties,” according to his website.
When someone tried to separate the two men, Mandel told Gibbons, “Get off.”
Gibbons replied, “Look, look, you made up with the wrong dude.”
“No, I’m dealing with the wrong guy,” the father of three replied. “Here’s what’s happening, you’re watching what’s happening.”
After the event, Gibbons’ campaign issued a statement on the debacle, calling the 44-year-old “unbalanced, unfit and wobbly – because he’s losing.”
– He is a professional only in one thing: to run for office. He is obsessed with lies because he fails. He doesn’t have the temperament, experience, or fortitude to be a US Senator, and Ohio voters have seen firsthand how unprepared Josh Mandel has become, and it will be reflected on the May 3rd ballot.”
Mandel served in the Marine Corps Reserve and served two terms beginning in 2000. According to his website, he made two tours of Iraq and received the Navy and Marine Corps Meritorious Service Medal for “excellent performance of his duties” on both tours.
Mandel (pictured in the army) holds the hand of a little girl in Iraq during one of his tours.
The Mandel campaign did not release a statement.
attempted to contact Mandel and Gibbons for comment.
Mandel, who supported Donald Trump after he became president, has moved far from his liberal Cleveland roots, according to The New York Times, and now friends are speaking. Matt Cox, a Republican lobbyist and former friend of Mandel, said the Cleveland native budding “twists himself into something that he [not]just to win the election.
“Outright Lies” is not part of the game. This is intentional. And you have to believe it if you talk about it so often,” Cox said in an interview with the Times.
Rob Zimmerman, a Democrat who spent hours fundraising with Mandel, said he wanted to “believe this is the character he’s playing.” And said Mandel’s change “broke my heart.”
Despite the need for financial transparency, Mandel – a Jew and the grandson of Holocaust survivors – is open about his desire to “close public schools and place schools in churches and synagogues” and deplores the separation of church and state. He also said that he was opposed to a federal mandate for vaccines or tests, and compared it to the actions of the Gestapo towards Jews.
In September, standing in front of a Trump sign outside a cornfield in Logansville, he denounced President Joe Biden, 79, as the country’s leader, saying, “Joe Biden — I’m not even going to call him president, he’s not,” before pointing to the Trump sign. and say, “He’s my president.”
Mandel’s Twitter account, which has never shied away from controversy, was also suspended last year after he created a poll that asked whether “Muslim terrorists” or “Mexican bandits” would commit more crimes, according to The New York Times. .
Gibbons, on the other hand, has already spent $12 million on his campaign on ads alone, a lot more than other candidates. He also stated that he had “already lived out his American dream” and was only running to “restore American values”.
He also funded Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and proudly announced on his website that he “donated even more money to Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign.”
Despite his many ties to Chinese companies, Gibbons said in May 2021 that he supported Trump because he was “the first one with the smarts to come out and say, ‘We’re going to make you play by the rules, and you’re not going to continue to deprive us of our intellectual property”. He stated that Trump was “the first” to “stand up”.
Ohioans will vote for the U.S. Senate on May 3.