President Joe Biden's disastrous debate performance from almost two weeks ago has not just raised concerns about his own reelection prospects, assuming he stays in the race, but down-ballot races. Prospects already looked good for Republicans to take back control of the Senate, and they're looking to get even better. Vulnerable incumbents have certainly been put in a tough spot, including Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH). He continues to stick to his "cowardly" remarks, though, as Bernie Moreno, the Republican nominee, has highlighted.
Per NBC News' Henry Gomez, Brown claimed "I'm not a pundit" when asked about Biden. "I've talked to people across Ohio. They have legitimate questions about whether the president should continue his campaign, and I'll keep listening to people," he also said as part of his non-answer.
Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio today in Youngstown on the Biden question, per his campaign:
— Henry J. Gomez (@HenryJGomez) July 8, 2024
"I'm not a pundit. I've talked to people across Ohio. They have legitimate questions about whether the president should continue his campaign, and I'll keep listening to people."
Former and potentially future President Donald Trump won Ohio in 2016 and 2020 by about 8 points, and is almost certainly expected to not only win the state again in November, but do so by even wider margins.
"Sherrod Brown votes with Joe Biden nearly 100 percent of the time, so it is unsurprising that he is standing by Biden as his obvious cognitive decline and inability to lead our nation is on full display to the American people," said Moreno in a statement from Monday. "Sherrod and Joe have been friends and political allies for many years, so does anyone truly believe that Sherrod wasn't fully aware of Biden's decline long before his disastrous debate performance? Voting for Biden's job-killing, open border agenda is bad enough, but helping him deceive the people of Ohio by cowardly refusing to be truthful about Joe's obvious decline is unforgivable."
On Tuesday, it looked like Brown was changing his tune, but going with the theme of cowardice, that he was doing so "behind closed doors."
CNN's Dana Bash shared over X that he, speaking from the Democratic caucus lunch, was among those who "do not believe that President Biden can win the election."
Montana's Jon Tester is another particularly vulnerable Democratic incumbent running for reelection. Either race could decide which party controls the Senate.
I am told that Senators Michael Bennett, Sherrod Brown and Jon Tester told colleagues in today’s Democratic caucus lunch that they do not believe that President Biden can win the election.
— Dana Bash (@DanaBashCNN) July 9, 2024
"Sherrod Brown tells Ohioans one thing and says another behind closed doors among Washington insiders," said Moreno in a Tuesday statement. "Brown votes with Biden nearly 100 percent of the time and has helped this administration destroy the economy and keep our southern border wide open. Now that Biden is in trouble, Brown is running from his record of voting in lockstep with his longtime friend for Biden's disastrous agenda."
Moreno has highlighted Brown's voting record with Biden before, just as he did with an ad released on the day of the debate on June 27.
Manu Raju, also of CNN, reminded over X on Wednesday morning how standoffish the vulnerable incumbent has been.
Sherrod Brown, the vulnerable Democrat who predicted privately yesterday that Biden would lose, just told us: “I am listening to the legitimate concerns of Ohio voters.”
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) July 10, 2024
He wouldn’t comment further or respond to questions on whether he wants Biden to drop out.
Bennet was also included in the names of Democratic senators who feel Biden can't run for reelection. As Matt covered earlier on Wednesday, Bennet was more willing to really sound the alarm in his Tuesday night CNN apappearance:
The Colorado Democrat was quite dire in his remarks, adding that Donald Trump is poised to win this election in a landslide.
“I think we could lose the whole thing, and it’s staggering to me,” he told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins. Yet, he also said that Biden is an accomplished president—debatable—and has a strong affinity for the man as a leader. It’s the same chord struck for everyone in the dump Biden crowd: they either love or deeply respect the president, but he needs to go away for the sake of the party. Bennet added that he doesn’t think Colorado is in play, but Collins also said as the interview continued that he seemed to be navigating toward a path where he calls Biden to step aside.
Bennet didn’t answer the question, instead saying that he feels the country's future is at stake. Well, you pretty much said that Joe Biden, senator, is the person who could sink the ship. Will Democrats s**t or get off the pot on this one?
Not only was it telling how Bennet was full of dread, but he didn't even answer the question.
“Donald Trump is on track, I think, to win this election. And maybe win it by a landslide and take with it the Senate and the House,” Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet tells me in a very newsy interview. “I think we could lose the whole thing and it’s staggering to me.” pic.twitter.com/k0M97PntVA
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) July 10, 2024
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