Ryan on CNN town hall in June

Staff report

WASHINGTON

U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, a Democratic presidential candidate, will have a town hall session on CNN.

The event is set for Atlanta on June 2 at 7 p.m. said Michael Zetts, his presidential campaign spokesman.

CNN anchor Poppy Harlow will moderate the event.

This will be Ryan’s first nationally televised town hall and his first visit to the state of Georgia since announcing his candidacy for the Democratic Party nomination.

The Ryan campaign is also in talks with Fox News for a town hall on that channel, Zetts told The Vindicator.

Ryan will “discuss the challenges America faces and the opportunities that lay ahead,” Zetts said.

“Ryan knows the insecurity that comes from the 40-year collapse of the old economy and he knows that we must bring workers to the table to modernize our economy, guarantee affordable health care, fix our broken education system, and not just reduce climate change — but reverse it,” Zetts said.

According to CNN’s website, the cable news channel’s “town hall events have become regular stops for presidential aspirants in the 2020 cycle as the historically wide Democratic field has grown wider almost weekly and candidates continue to seek a way to break out of the pack and into the debates this summer.”

CNN described Ryan by noting he has “has broken with some of the field by warning about the popularity of ‘socialism,’ and, similarly to [Massachusetts U.S. Rep. Seth] Moulton, grew his profile in Congress with an effort to oust [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi.’”

Zetts, Ryan’s congressional communications director, took a leave of absence to take over those duties for the presidential campaign.