Rep. Tim Ryan holds kickoff rally in Ohio, says he wants to unite ‘divided country’

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Rep. Tim Ryan kicks off 2020 presidential campaign

Days after declaring his candidacy for the Oval Office on ABC's "The View," Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio held a kickoff rally on Saturday, emphasizing his aim to bring together “a divided country.”

“I'm Tim Ryan and I'm running for president of the United States of America,” he said to start the event, eliciting cheers from the crowd.

Ryan stressed throughout his speech in Youngstown, Ohio, that the U.S. had become split and claimed that there were some politicians who've sought “to divide us” and “want to put us in one box or the other.”

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“I'm tired of having to choose,” he said. “I want us to come together as a country.”

He pledged that if he captures the presidency, he'll always consider the public’s problems as his own and “will work every single day” toward improving people's lives.

“I will tell you that if there is one value that I will bring to the highest office in the land when I wake up, it's going to be how today can I use every ounce of power that this office has to help ordinary people do something extraordinary today in America."

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Ryan added his candidacy to a crowded field of 2020 Democratic White House contenders during an appearance on “The View” on Thursday.

“I can win western PA, I can win Ohio. I can win Michigan. I can win Wisconsin. And that means Donald Trump is going back to Mar-a-Lago full time,” Ryan said on the show.

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He also touted himself as “a progressive who knows how to talk to working-class people.”

Ryan gained national prominence in 2016 when he launched an unsuccessful challenge to unseat Nancy Pelosi as Democratic House leader.

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser and The Associated Press contributed to this report.