Ryan Endorses Biden as Most Likely to Beat Trump

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, D-13 Ohio, this morning threw his support behind Joe Biden in the former vice president’s quest to win the Democratic Party’s nomination for president.

Ryan said the former vice president has the best chance of defeating Donald Trump in 2020.

The congressman dropped out of his party’s presidential race Oct. 25, and is the first former candidate for the nomination to endorse one of his rivals. He made the announcement on the MSNBC program “Morning Joe.”

“They’re all good candidates but in Joe Biden’s bones is a connection to the working class people of this country,” Ryan said.

“He’s got the touch. The country needs to heal after President Trump is gone. We need somebody who can hit the reset button and bring some stability to the country.”

In September Ryan was quoted as saying Biden was “declining” and lacked “clarity.” He subsequently walked back those remarks.

The congressman was an early endorser of Hillary Clinton, in fact the first member of the House of Representatives to endorse the former secretary of state even before she officially declared her candidacy. In November 2013, he teamed with the Ready for Hillary political action committee to push for her potential candidacy.

As the 2016 presidential campaign unfolded, the congressman campaigned extensively for Clinton and as the election drew close, speculation suggested that he was under consideration for a cabinet post.

His early endorsement of Biden would seem to be a good political move should Biden end up securing the nomination and winning the presidency.

Ryan said he has had conversations with Biden “over the last few weeks,” and Biden’s campaign’s message closely aligns with what Ryan was advocating: rebuilding the middle class, massive infrastructure investment, “putting an industrial policy together, putting a technology policy together.”

The 2020 election will turn on “Midwest, working-class voters that Republicans took away” in 2016, he said, and centrist proposals that can attract majorities in key states.

“The best thing we can do to have a revolution in the United States is to get rid of Donald Trump,” he said.

Pictured at top: Ryan meets with local reporters after withdrawing from the race for his party’s presidential nomination.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.