Rep. Tim Ryan (D., Ohio) said Tuesday that he does not know whether he would vote for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) to serve another term as the top House Democrat, and he did not rule out running to replace her after the 2018 midterm elections.
Fox Business host Neil Cavuto asked Ryan during an interview whether the congressman would challenge Pelosi for the Democratic leadership in the House—whether Democrats win back the majority or not.
"I really don't have any interest in running for leadership again," said Ryan, who described his experience in 2016 challenging Pelosi to head the House Democratic Caucus. Ryan ultimately lost to Pelosi but garnered the support of more than 60 House Democrats.
"What if she [Pelosi] runs unchallenged, congressman?" Cavuto asked Ryan.
"Well, you can have me on if that's the case at some point, but I don't know if that would be the case," Ryan said with a smile.
"Would you vote for her?" Cavuto asked.
"Well, I don’t know," Ryan said. "We’ll see what things look like in a year from now. But I do think we [have] to continue to get new faces out there."
Ryan has been a vocal critic of Pelosi and the Democratic Party for not focusing on the economic needs of working-class people.
"We don't have a strong economic message," Ryan said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" in June. "When I was growing up, and you'd ask my grandfather, my grandmother, 'Why are we Democrats?' And it was, 'The Democrats are for working-class people.' And we've lost that message."
Ryan also recently chided Democrats for lacking a "real strategy" for shutting down the government last month.