Rep. Tim Ryan, who announced his presidential campaign last week, said Wednesday he is concerned about a 2018 Gallup poll showing Democratic voters view socialism more favorably than capitalism because it will be up to the free market rather than the government to "decarbonize the American economy."
"It's going to be part targeted government investments that do need to be robust," the Ohio Democrat told CNN's "New Day." "It's going to be the free market that's going to make that happen. They have the magic of the free market, they have the innovation, the creativity, the profit motive...we can't be hostile to the free enterprise system."
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who is at the top of current polls for the Democratic nomination, identifies himself as a Democratic Socialist, and policies he and other prominent Democrats are often referred to by Republicans as being socialist.
Ryan said he does support the call made by Sanders and other Democratic candidates for Medicare for all healthcare coverage, however.
Meanwhile, Ryan said he believes the United States needs an industrial policy that will drive the next generation of jobs.
"We are so divided right now that we are starting to lose the long-term economic battle," said Ryan. "The president should be sitting down with the private industry, the Department of Energy, Department of Defense, National Science Foundation and say, okay, how do we win the electric vehicle market?" said Ryan.
He noted that by 2030, there will be 30 million electric vehicles in the United States, and he wants them to be U.S.-made, as well as the batteries and charging stations for them.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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