Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan avoids endorsing 2024 Biden run on Senate campaign trail
A Democratic congressman running to represent Ohio in the US Senate was coy when asked if President Biden should seek a second term in the White House.
Rep. Tim Ryan punted the question from Fox News’ “America Reports” anchor Sandra Smith Wednesday, amid a new poll that shows three out of four Democratic voters don’t want the 79-year-old to run for re-election.
“I’m working on my own election and that’s all I’m focused on right now,” Ryan said.
“We’ve got a little under four months here in Ohio, and we’re running a great campaign. We’re up in the polls, and working really hard. So I’m just going to focus on that and then we can chat about that after I win and get in the United States Senate. I’ll be happy to comment.”
Ryan said his failure to attend a Biden event in Cleveland earlier this month was not political.
“I had commitments in southern Ohio and I’m not gonna back out on normal Ohioans, average Ohioans,” he said.
Ryan will square off against Republican J.D. Vance in November to fill the seat of retiring Republican Rob Portman.
Vance, the author of “Hillbilly Elegy,” won a crowded primary field in May with the support of former President Donald Trump. Trump won the former bellwether state by 8% in 2020.
Many liberals and moderates recently polled by CNN said the current administration’s failure to blunt the effects of rising inflation had led them to reconsider their support for a second Biden term.
