Ohio Rep. Sherrod Brown joins calls for Biden to resign

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) released a statement Friday calling on President Biden to withdraw from the presidential race, joining a growing list of Democrats who have done so.

Brown pointed to issues of paramount importance to his constituents in the Buckeye State, including creating jobs, providing law enforcement resources to respond to the fentanyl crisis, protecting Social Security and Medicare and preventing efforts to restrict abortions.

“There are issues that Ohioans care about and it is my job to continue to fight for them,” Brown said in a statement shared on the social media platform X.

“At this critical moment, our full attention must return 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 withdraw 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 (N.M.).

Brown and Heinrich’s statements both came on Friday, the day after Trump officially secured the Republican presidential nomination. They join more than 30 House Democrats who called on the president to step aside. Ten House Democrats called on Biden to step aside on Friday alone.

In the weeks following the president’s poor debate performance, Democrats have raised concerns about the president’s ability to defeat Trump and serve another four-year term if re-elected. Many say Biden can’t recover now and that his continued run could jeopardize the House and Senate races if he stays.

The Ohio senator previously dismissed concerns about Biden’s candidacy, saying he wouldn’t get into discussions but would continue to listen to people in Ohio who had “legitimate questions.”

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