COLUMBUS, Ohio — Senator Sherrod Brown released a statement Friday calling on President Joe Biden to end his reelection campaign.
Brown is now the fourth Senate Democrat over the past couple of weeks to call on Biden to step down from the race.
Among the Democrats expressing worries to allies about Biden's chances were former President Barack Obama and Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi.
Brown said in a statement that he agrees with “the many Ohioans” who have reached out to him. “I think the president should end his campaign,” he said.
He added that focusing on important issues such as protecting Social Security and Medicare from cuts and preventing the ongoing efforts to impose a national abortion ban are issues that he will keep fighting for.
Biden said Trump's acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention showcased a “dark vision for the future." The president, seeking to move the political conversation away from his fate and onto his rival's agenda, said Friday he was planning to return to the campaign trail next week and insisted he has a path to victory over Trump, despite the worries of some of his party's most eminent members.
“Together, as a party and as a country, we can and will defeat him at the ballot box,” Biden said. “The stakes are high, and the choice is clear. Together, we will win.”
Earlier in the day, his campaign chair, Jen O'Malley Dillion, acknowledged “slippage” in support for the president but insisted he's “absolutely” remaining in the race and the campaign sees “multiple paths" to beating Trump.
“We have a lot of work to do to reassure the American people that, yes, he’s old, but he can win," she told MSNBC's “Morning Joe” show. She said voters concerned about Biden's fitness to lead aren't switching to vote for Trump.