Ohio Congressman and Democratic presidential candidate Tim Ryan (D-13-OH) said in an interview Sunday, “The white supremacists think that Donald Trump is a white supremacist.”
The 2020 hopeful had been in Louisville Friday, leading a caravan to Senator Mitch McConnell’s hometown in Kentucky where he joined the protesters and called for the Majority Leader to convene the Senate and push gun control legislation. Ryan was in Charleston visiting the location of the Emanuel Church shooting when he took time out to speak with Bill Hemmer, who was sitting in for Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday.
“You have said the President is a racist,” Hemmer noted. “What is your responsibility for bringing down the temperature?”
“You keep it civil, you keep it in the public discourse… The white supremacists think that Donald Trump is a white supremacist.”
Ryan continued, “So, don’t take a political candidate’s comment because that, you know, people don’t really take a lot of credibility with what anybody says. I would just say when you look at this kid in El Paso, you know, he was saying similar things that President Trump has said about the invasion and all of this. And all I’m saying is sometimes the rhetoric does get so hot around immigrants.”
“I believe we need to call out racist activity… I believe the President has done a poor job. He’s the first one to torch the joint on Twitter,” commented Ryan.
Ryan has a history of calling President Trump a “racist.” Less than a month before the Dayton shooting he attacked Trump on Twitter. “These racists [sic] attacks on my colleagues shouldn’t come as a surprise. Trump has shown us who he is. A racist who’s goal is to incite fear and hate to divide us at every turn.”
These racists attacks on my colleagues shouldn’t come as a surprise. Trump has shown us who he is. A racist who’s goal is to incite fear and hate to divide us at every turn.
We must stand united. pic.twitter.com/msIkj5E4ME
— Tim Ryan (@TimRyan) July 14, 2019
Watch the full interview with Rep. Tim Ryan here.
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Beth Lear is a reporter at The Ohio Star. Follow Beth on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
