Rep. Tim Ryan Tuesday spoke out against fellow Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters' call to intimidate members of President Donald Trump's cabinet and his supporters, saying it's inappropriate to condone political harassment, but at the same time, he blamed the president for the contentious discourse.
"We have to get to some higher ground here in the country," the Ohio lawmaker told Fox News' "Fox and Friends."
"The president has not embodied civility at all. He has talked about punching people in the face, said he will pay the legal bills if you get roughed up. This started under his watch and unfortunately it has gotten to this point."
It is important for Democrats to move on from Waters' comments, said Ryan, noting that there is much more to point to concerning Trump.
"There are a lot of teens to be angry about that we are seeing at the border," said Ryan. "We have seen General Motors shipping jobs to Mexico, Harley-Davidson moving production into Europe, we see what is going on with China. Why we are having this fight internally while the president is dividing the country internally while China is cleaning our clocks militarily, economically, making moves all over Asia into Africa. They want to dominate the world economy why we have a food fight here at home."
Ryan also said it's important for Democrats across the country to focus on their local districts, rather than on who will lead the House of Representatives next.
"To all your listeners, if you hear Democrat come off is independent minded, past the nonsense that is going on that is a great quality for a candidate. Those who make the decision will benefit from it in the end," said Ryan.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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