On the heels of the networks providing next to no coverage of Democratic Congressman Tim Ryan (Ohio) challenging Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) for House Minority Leader, ABC and CBS ignored it while NBC only briefly noted it on their Sunday morning talk shows whereas CNN’s State of the Union featured a full segment with Ryan.
With NBC’s Meet the Press relegating their Ryan mention to during a panel segment, CNN anchor Jake Tapper was left to cover it and appropriately pressed Ryan on the anti-Second Amendment views of Democratic National Committee (DNC) chairman candidate and fellow Congressman Keith Ellison (Minn.) (who has a whole host of other radical views).
Tapper spent much of the interview discussing Ryan’s longshot bid, but roughly the final two minutes were spent on the issue of guns that Democrats will arguably have to change if they hope to win back many of the Rust Belt, Midwestern voters that went for President-elect Donald Trump.
Here’s the transcript of the damning clip Tapper showed from March 2014:
BILL MAHER [on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, 03/21/14]: Then why doesn't your party come out against the Second Amendment?
DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSMAN KEITH ELLISON [Minn.] [on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, 03/21/14]: Bill, I sure wish they would. I sure wish they would.
MAHER [on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, 03/21/14]: Really?
ELLISON [on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, 03/21/14]: Yes.
MAHER [on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, 03/21/14]: Because I never hear anybody in the Democratic Party say that.
“So, that's your candidate for — a candidate for DNC chair saying that he sure wishes the Democratic Party would come out against the Second Amendment. Is that the appropriate leadership for the DNC,” Tapper wondered to Ryan.
Ryan started floundering by declaring that it’s “not my decision entirely to make” and he somehow doesn’t “have a horse in that fight,” so Tapper immediately stepped in to press him: “But you want to lead the Democratic Party in the House. Don't — I mean, you must have a position.”
Naturally, Ryan filibustered his way to the end of the segment by alluding to the House Democrat-led sit-in for gun control plus the need for “sportsmen” and hunters to be able to enjoy themselves but with more background checks. Interestingly, he turned away from guns to (liberal) economic policies:
We need to close the gun show loophole. We need to make sure terrorists don't have guns and we need to close the Charleston loophole....I think that's an important discussion we need to have, but not to give away the Second Amendment. I don't think that's appropriate, but on the issue of gun violence, why do we have violence in our inner cities? It's economics. We — it's poverty issues. This economic message should drive everything we talk about as Democrats. Poverty, middle-class wages, gun violence, things that happen in rural America, these are economic issues that the Democratic Party has lost its way[.]
The relevant portion of the transcript from CNN’s State of the Union on November 20 can be found below.
CNN’s State of the Union
November 20, 2016
9:24 a.m. Eastern
JAKE TAPPER: There's another fight going on, which is for the DNC chair position. Your colleague Keith Ellison, Democrat of Minnesota, has picked up the support of Chuck Schumer, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren. I want to you take a listen to what Congressman Ellison had to say about guns in 2014.
BILL MAHER [on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, 03/21/14]: Then why doesn't your party come out against the Second Amendment?
DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSMAN KEITH ELLISON [Minn.] [on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, 03/21/14]: Bill, I sure wish they would. I sure wish they would.
MAHER [on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, 03/21/14]: Really?
ELLISON [on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, 03/21/14]: Yes.
MAHER [on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, 03/21/14]: Because I never hear anybody in the Democratic Party say that.
TAPPER: So, that's your candidate for — a candidate for DNC chair saying that he sure wishes the Democratic Party would come out against the Second Amendment. Is that the appropriate leadership for the DNC?
DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSMAN TIM RYAN (Ohio): Umm, well, that's not my decision entirely to make. I really don't have a horse in that fight and so the DNC members are going to have to make that decision. Ultimately, that —
TAPPER: But you want to lead the Democratic Party in the House. Don't — I mean, you must have a position.
RYAN: — that's — that's not my position. My position on guns and gun violence is not to get rid of the Second Amendment. We need people who can — who are sportsmen and can hunt and fish. We need to have background checks. We need to close the gun show loophole. We need to make sure terrorists don't have guns and we need to close the Charleston loophole. Those are the things we are pushing and I was on the House floor when we were having this sit-in on guns. I think that's an important discussion we need to have, but not to give away the Second Amendment. I don't think that's appropriate, but on the issue of gun violence, why do we have violence in our inner cities? It's economics. We — it's poverty issues. This economic message should drive everything we talk about as Democrats. Poverty, middle-class wages, gun violence, things that happen in rural America, these are economic issues that the Democratic Party has lost its way and if we want these Trump voters to come back, we need to start talking about these bread-and-butter, fundamental issues that make us Democrats.
