Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) released a statement Friday urging President Biden to withdraw from the presidential race, joining a growing list of Democrats to make the decision.
Brown pointed to the issues most important to his voters in the Buckeye State, including creating jobs, providing law enforcement tools for the fentanyl crisis, protecting Social Security and Medicare, and preventing efforts to restrict abortions.
“There are issues that Ohioans care about, and it’s my job to keep fighting for them,” Brown said in a statementshared on social media platform X.
“At this critical moment, all of our attention must turn to these important issues,” he added. “I think the president should end his campaign.”
Brown is currently running in what is expected to be one of the tightest Senate races in the country. His comments make him the fourth Senate Democrat to pressure Biden to rescind his candidacy and allow someone else to run against former President Trump in November.
He joins Democratic Senators Peter Welch (Vt.), Jon Tester (Mont.) and Martin Heinrich (NM).
Brown and Heinrich’s statements were made on Friday, one day after Trump officially secured the Republican presidential nomination. They join more than 30 House Democrats in calling on the president. Ten House Democrats called on Biden to step aside only on Friday.
In the weeks following the president’s poor debate performance, Democrats have expressed concern about the president’s ability to defeat Trump and serve four more years if reelected. Many say Biden cannot recover now and that his continuance could threaten House and Senate races if he remains in office.
The Ohio senator previously dismissed concerns about Biden’s candidacy, saying he would not enter the discussions but would continue to listen to people in Ohio who have “legitimate questions.”
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
