(Bloomberg) -- Democratic presidential candidate Tim Ryan said Thursday he doesn't have faith that a “declining” Joe Biden can defeat President Donald Trump in the general election next year.
“I just think Biden is declining,” Ryan said of the Democratic presidential campaign's front-runner during a phone call. “I don't think he has the energy. You see it almost daily. And I love the guy.”
Ryan later said he didn't realize he was speaking to a reporter and that he meant to be seeking donations for his campaign.
The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday night.
Ryan, an Ohio congressman, has languished in the low single digits in the polls and failed to qualify for the third Democratic debate next week. He criticized the Democratic Party's requirements of 2% in four polls and 130,000 donors to participate in the forum.
“A lot of people think it's bulls**t that they're limiting,” he said. “You have to have some level of criteria but it's September and they're winnowing the field.”
He added, however, that he has decided to stay in the race because he believes he's best-positioned to appeal to moderate voters in the Midwest. For now, though, he said he is focusing on New Hampshire and South Carolina, pointing out that he's picked up endorsements from local figures in those early primary states.
Ryan said he he may continue in the race even if he doesn't qualify for the fourth debate, in October. “If I'm doing well in September, October in polling, we'll probably just keep going,” he said.
--With assistance from Tyler Pager.
To contact the reporter on this story: Nico Grant in San Francisco at ngrant20@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, Max Berley, John Harney
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