Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, issued a statement Friday calling on President Biden to withdraw from the presidential race, joining a growing list of Democrats making similar calls.
Brown pointed to issues that are top of mind for Buckeye State voters, including creating jobs, providing law enforcement tools to combat the fentanyl crisis, protecting Social Security and Medicare and stopping efforts to restrict abortion.
“There are issues that Ohioans care about and it’s my job to continue to fight for them.” Brown said in a statement.It was shared on social media platform X.
“At this critical time, we must focus our full attention on these important issues,” he added. “I believe the president should end his campaign.”
Brown is currently running in what is expected to be the closest Senate race in the country, and his comments make him the fourth Senate Democrat to pressure Biden to withdraw his candidacy and give someone else the opportunity to run against former President Trump in November.
He joins Democratic Sens. Peter Welch of Vermont, Jon Tester of Montana and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico.
Brown and Heinrich’s statements came on Friday, the day after Trump formally won the Republican presidential nomination. They joined more than 30 House Democrats who have called on the president to resign. On Friday alone, 10 House Democrats called on Biden to resign.
Weeks after his lackluster performance in the presidential debates, Democrats have expressed concern about whether the president can defeat Trump and serve another four years if re-elected, with many saying Biden can’t bounce back now and potentially jeopardizing House and Senate races if he stays on.
The Ohio senator previously dismissed concerns about Biden’s candidacy, saying he wouldn’t get involved in the debate but would continue to listen to Ohioans who have “legitimate questions.”
