Keith Ellison, a US Muslim lawmaker on Monday formally announced his bid to lead the battered Democratic Party, vowing to take it in a more liberal direction. "I am proud to announce my candidacy for Chair of the Democratic National Committee, and if given the opportunity to serve, I will work tirelessly to make the Democratic Party an organization that brings us together and advances an agenda that improves people's lives," Ellison, 53, said in a statement.

Ellison, a member of the House of Representatives who hails from Minnesota, became the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Congress in 2006.

After Hillary Clinton's loss, the U.S. President Barack Obama delivered pep talks to demoralized supporters on Monday, promising to reassess their strategy, message and organization in the wake of last week's devastating defeat. "You're allowed to mope for a week and half maybe two," President Barack Obama told Democratic National Committee members on a conference call. "But after that we've got to brush ourselves off and get to work."

The party has entered a period of soul-searching, as Democrats try to chart their direction in the Donald Trump era. An ascendant liberal wing is pushing for a serious shift toward an economic populist message that could win back white working-class voters who backed Trump.