Tim Ryan: ‘White supremacists think that Donald trump is a white supremacist’

Presidential candidate Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) on Sunday defended his characterization of President Trump as a white supremacist in the wake of a mass shooting in El Paso, Texas.

“The white supremacists think that Donald Trump is a white supremacist,” Ryan told “Fox News Sunday” guest host Bill Hemmer. “I would just say when you look at this kid in El Paso, he was saying similar things to what President Trump has said.”

2020 presidential candidate Tim Ryan tells Bill “the white supremacists think that President Trump is a white supremacist.” #FNS #FoxNews pic.twitter.com/JTM9mzdsl2

— FoxNewsSunday (@FoxNewsSunday) August 11, 2019

{mosads}The suspect in the shooting, which left at least 22 people dead, told police he sought to kill “Mexicans” and has been tied to a racist, anti-immigrant manifesto decrying a “Hispanic invasion of Texas.” Numerous Democratic candidates have tied the language to similar rhetoric from Trump on immigration.

Hemmer went on to ask Ryan if he condoned protesters who demonstrated outside Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) house in Louisville or Rep. Joaquin Castro’s (D-Texas) tweet of publicly available data about donors to Trump’s reelection campaign.

“There should be zero tolerance for that kind of rhetoric. I think going to people’s homes is out of bounds,” Ryan responded. “You keep it civil, you keep it in the public discourse.”

However, the Ohio congressman added, Trump is “the first one to torch the joint on Twitter and start a fight.”

“I’m ready for America to come together and heal around issues where about 90 percent of us agree,” he added.