Ex-Democratic Congressman Tim Ryan Calls on Biden to Drop Out of the 2024 Election: ‘Right Thing to Do’

Former Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan (D) implored President Joe Biden to forgo seeking reelection and let someone else take his place as the 2024 Democratic nominee.

Ryan joined Kasie Hunt on Monday for CNN International, where he spoke in favor of Biden’s policies while acknowledging how they’ve failed to resonate and inspire confidence among voters. Much of the conversation revolved around the new polls showing Biden in critical danger against Donald Trump within the swing states likely to decide the next presidential election.

Hunt asked Ryan if he regrets not running for president again, noting that Rep. Dean Phillips is challenging Biden, but “there has been no serious primary challenge” so far. Ryan answered that he was “worried” before adding, “I don’t think the president should run.” He continued:

I don’t think Trump should run. I don’t think President Biden should run. We have talent in the Democratic party. There are some leaders in the Republican party who are willing to take on the insurrectionists and take on Trump, and I think those candidates should be considered as well, but the whole country wants to move on.

I think that it would be the right thing to do for the president to not run, for him to focus on what’s going on in the Middle East, focus on what’s going on in Ukraine… Spend the next 14 months focusing on that and let new candidates emerge in the Democratic party.

Ryan said he wasn’t sure if Biden would lose to Trump if they wind up in a rematch, but warned that Democrats are underestimating the chances that that could happen. He also emphasized how Biden and Trump are in competition with each other despite all of the baggage the former president is carrying.

“The guy’s getting indicted in four different states on 90-something different counts! He led an insurrection against the country!” Ryan said. “For it to even be this close, let alone he’s winning in these blue states where we should be up huge, that just shows how bad the Democratic Party brand is and how unfortunately people are looking at President Biden not quite connecting to them on the issues that are important to them.”

Watch above via CNN International.