43
Ryan campaigning in New Hampshire while Sanders is coming to Lordstown
Sanders coming to Lordstown
YOUNGSTOWN
U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan brought his presidential campaign to New Hampshire, the first state in the nation with a presidential primary, while U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders is coming Sunday to Lordstown.
Sanders, an independent from Vermont who is running in the 2020 Democratic primary for president, will be at Lordstown High School at 1 p.m. Sunday.
Sanders is meeting with Randi Weingarten, American Federation of Teachers president, and members of the AFT- affiliated Lordstown Teachers Association to discuss the impact of the closing of the General Motors facility in that village.
The final Chevrolet Cruze rolled off the GM Lordstown assembly line March 6. The plant employed about 1,600 workers.
Ryan, of Howland, D-13th, met Wednesday night with the Manchester Young Democrats at the Strange Brew Tavern in that New Hampshire community.
Ryan also will appear on WMUR TV’s “Conversation with the Candidate” program in Manchester from 9 to 10 a.m. today.
He officially announced his presidential candidacy April 4 and had a rally Saturday in downtown Youngstown.
Ryan says China is “cleaning our clock” industrially because China has a plan and the United States does not.
“By 2030, there will be 30 million electric vehicles, and I want them made in the U.S.,” said Ryan, speaking on the MSNBC television news show “Hardball with Chris Matthews” on Wednesday night.
Republican President Donald Trump does not have a plan, Ryan continued.
“We need a president who will sit down with the labor unions and rebuild the middle class. Despite low unemployment rates, these people’s lives have not gotten better, and they don’t understand why,” Ryan said.
“First and foremost, we need to bring this country together. The clock is ticking, and we need to lift these people up,” Ryan said.
Earlier Wednesday, Ryan – along with six other announced 2020 Democratic presidential candidates and two potential ones – spoke at the North America’s Building Trades Unions’ Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C.
At the conference, Ryan said, “The American Dream for millions of Americans is on life support.”
Also at the conference, Ryan repeated a story about Muhammad Ali talking about being knocked down that he also mentioned at Saturday’s Youngstown event, and said: “The American worker is either up or it’s gettin’ up.”
At Saturday’s rally, he ended his speech saying: “The Mahoning Valley is either up or we’re gettin’ up. Northeast Ohio is either up or we’re gettin’ up. Ohio is either up or we’re gettin’ up. And the United States of America, we’re either up or we’re gettin’ up.”
Before that, he spent two days in Iowa, the first state with a presidential caucus.
Meanwhile, Sanders is stopping Sunday in Lordstown to meet with teachers at the high school, according to the American Federation of Teachers.
The town hall, which is closed to the public, is part of the 1.7-million-member AFT’s presidential endorsement process in which union members will talk directly with candidates on how to address their concerns.
The AFT statement says Sanders and Weingarten will discuss “how to defend and grow middle-class jobs for those left behind by the Trump administration’s failed economic agenda.”
Sanders’ visit to Lordstown was first reported Tuesday on Vindy.com, The Vindicator’s website.
Sanders has scheduled rallies in the Midwest from Friday through Sunday. He will be in Madison, Wis., at 5 p.m. Friday; in Warren, Mich., at 5 p.m. Saturday; and in Pittsburgh at 5 p.m. Sunday.