Rep. Tim Ryan (D., Ohio) defended his legislative record on Sunday by going over his history of promoting meditation in response to criticism of his attempt to unseat Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) as leader of House Democrats.
While speaking with Fox News' Chris Wallace, Ryan was confronted with criticism that is coming from his own party.
"Let's talk about Tim Ryan, because critics say that you've been in Congress 14 years and you haven't left much of a legislative mark," Wallace said. "They say, in fact, that the two biggest issues you pushed are, one, that you host meditation sessions every week on Capitol Hill, and that you got some federal money to teach 'mindfulness' to students in your district."
"I mean it's not much of a legislative record for 14 years, sir," Wallace added.
Ryan said he believes Capitol Hill "could use a little mindfulness" and that Congress needs a mindset that would keep them focused on the issues.
"But do you think that's going to win Trump voters? He's the meditation guy?" Wallace asked.
"Well, I think it's a part of an innovation in education," Ryan said. "I mean, if you look at social and emotional learning, which I got the money from, they just did a meta analysis a few months ago of 300,000 kids who are participating in social and emotional learning in the schools."
Ryan went on to discuss the results of the government funded meta analysis he referred to and defended social and emotional learning.