Tim Ryan on ‘extremist’ GOP: ‘We’ve got to kill and confront that movement’

Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) said his party and, more generally, Americans need to “kill and confront” what he described as an “extremist” movement within the GOP.

“The Democrats aren’t right on everything. And I’m willing to sit down and have conversations about how we can move out of this age of stupidity,” Ryan said during an appearance Tuesday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “Some of those answers will come from Republicans, not the extremists that we are dealing with every single day, we’ve got to kill and confront that movement, but working with normal mainstream Republicans, that’s going to be really, really important.”

Ryan is currently locked in a tight race for U.S. Senate with Republican J.D. Vance, an author and political newcomer who has the endorsement of former President Trump.

A centrist Democrat, Ryan has suggested on the campaign trail that Democrats need to “look to new leadership” as they work to reclaim the Buckeye State during this fall’s midterm elections.

A recent USA Today Network Ohio-Suffolk University poll released Monday found that 47 percent of Ohio general election voters said they would vote or lean toward voting for Ryan if the election were held now, in a race that has been rated by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report as “lean Republican.” 

Ryan’s comments follow sharp criticism leveled by President Biden against what he, too, described as an “extremist” movement inside the GOP loyal to Trump, during a prime-time address last month. He also said the movement posed a threat to the nation.