UPDATE – Midnight: At the time I wrote this piece, I noted down into it a bit that I thought Ryan was talking about an industry-specific minimum wage (for “new technology”), which is still odd. His comments were somewhat imprecise, but so was my headline in retrospect. I’ve updated the headline to reflect the content of the piece better. He wasn’t advocating $40/hour for flipping burgers. Apologies for the confusion!

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Because of all the Biden news this week you might have missed this one: Another Democrat threw his hat into the presidential ring yesterday, and he announced it while being interviewed on ABC‘s “The View” talk show.

Watch as Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH-13) declared his candidacy Thursday:

Rep. @TimRyan of Ohio tells @TheView co-hosts: “I’m going to run for president of the United States.” https://t.co/LQc4d2mQaM pic.twitter.com/4cCJSOBDnq

— The View (@TheView) April 4, 2019

Ryan was asked a number of mostly softball questions (surprise!) during the interview. Among them was regarding concern about his alleged “centrist Democrat” stances and how he’d be able to win over progressive voters. He answered this question in several ways throughout the interview:

On “The View,” Ryan said, “I am a progressive who knows how to talk to working class people and I know how to get elected in working class districts. Because at the end of the day the progressive agenda is what is best for working families.”

Another question was from fake Republican Ana Navarro about how he felt about the wave of inappropriate touching allegations against Joe Biden, who she said Ryan had been compared to in the past. But after that question, the conversation steered into a different direction: The economy and minimum wage jobs.

Newsbusters‘s Kristine Marsh provides a good recap of the segment:

Later on, co-host Meghan McCain pressed him if his party was going in the wrong direction by putting all their energy into going after President Trump. Citing Democrats trying to subpoena the Mueller report and get Trump’s tax returns, she asked, “Do you think the Democrats are focused on the wrong thing going into 2020?”

Ryan denied that Democrats were on the wrong track. “We need transparency,” he urged. But he added that his party needed to “get back to an economic message” which included raising the minimum wage to “$30 and 40$ an hour,” (what?!):

“[I] think as Democrats I’m for the fight for 15. I believe we do need to raise the minimum wage. But we can’t be saying we’re for 15. We need $30 an hour jobs, $40 an hour jobs. We need to get back to that message. And when we talk about the new technologies, that’s what those jobs pay. So let’s get busy putting that together.”

The audience and hosts loved that suggestion. Joy Behar praised, “I’ve got to say, I’m very impressed with you. Aren’t we all? He’s wonderful! We like you!”

I assume he’s talking about a set minimum wage for “new technology” jobs?

Watch the segment below to see if you can figure it out:

Rep. Ryan has been in Congress since 2003, and has said he will run for re-election to Congress concurrently while running for president.

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—Sister Toldjah is a former liberal and a 15+ year veteran of blogging with an emphasis on media bias, social issues, and the culture wars. Read her Red State archives here. Connect with her on Twitter.–