Ex-Dem Rep Tim Ryan Warns On MSNBC His Own Party ‘Is Toxic’ To Voters: ‘What Are We Doing?’

Former Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) told MSNBC that Democrats need a complete “rebrand” and to find common ground with MAGA figures like Elon Musk.

Ryan joined MSNBC’s The Weekend on Saturday and offered some blunt advice to his own party, saying Democrats forgot how to “lead with the economy,” instead leaning into policies that favor “redistribution” of wealth. Democrats, according to Ryan, are behind the ball on issues like crypto and the hardships the middle class is facing.

Ryan argued:

“You start with a complete reset. We need a rebrand. I think you and I have been talking about this since 2016, like, Our brand is toxic in so many places and it is like, you are a Democrat? That’s the stuff we get like in Ohio. So it needs — we need a complete reboot. We need a complete reboot with the DNC. We need a complete rebranding. We got to get back established into our values. What does it mean to be a Democrat? People want to trust us. They don’t want to go to Donald Trump. I’m telling you, the middle-of-the-road people, they’re holding their nose to vote for him but we did not give them enough, like, we are reindustrializing, we are talking about American competitiveness. We are moderate on things like natural gas in western PA which ended up being a big issue which we can’t be for natural gas replacing coal. We are in a big fight with the crypto industry. What are we doing? Why are we in a fight with crypto right now? We’ve got to get back to the bread and butter policies.”

Ryan suggested there are at least some points Democrats can meet controversial figures like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on and encouraged them to find those points. The former congressman called for his party to look at the “touchstone” campaign of former President Bill Clinton for a way to move forward after Vice President Kamala Harris’s election defeat.

“We have to lead with growth. The other thing that I think is really big, we can’t be for solely redistribution. We are going to tax the bad guys who are rich, which we want people to aspire to make money in America. We will tax them because they’re really bad people and we’re going to give you money,” he said. “No, it is about growing the pie. It is about getting back to — it is the Bill Clinton campaign. It is the modern Democratic campaign. Look at the touchstone.”

Watch above via MSNBC.