On Wednesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY) said that there is “a lot of bias in this country, a lot of bias in our politics. And I have no doubt that, being a white man, I guess, helps maybe connect with more people in my district that has a lot of white men.” But talking about identity misses the real issues that people are dealing with.
Ryan stated, “I think we have a lot of bias in this country, a lot of bias in our politics. And I have no doubt that, being a white man, I guess, helps maybe connect with more people in my district that has a lot of white men. I do think, at the end of the day, if we’re talking about identity, if we’re talking about sort of divisive culture war issues, we’re missing where real people are and the affordability pressure that they feel. And then we’re talking right past them, and they feel like we’re part of the problem and you’re just another politician focused on these things that don’t get at the heart of what they’re facing. But we do have to reckon with that, absolutely.”
Earlier in the interview, Ryan stated that the overwhelming majority of people are “facing unprecedented, tremendous economic pressure” and “party elites in both parties” are “increasingly just out of touch.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
