2020 roundup: Sherrod Brown calls Trump 'racist'
Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown isn't mincing words on his views about President Trump, calling the president a "racist" during his Sunday interview on "Meet the Press."
"This country hasn't dealt well with the issues of race. I mean, we have a president who is racist," Brown said while condemning Virginia Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam over revelations his yearbook photo included racist images.
"Charlottesville was only a symptom and a more-public viewing and outing, if you will, of the president's views about race."
Brown's language echoes that of Vermont Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, another possible Democratic presidential hopeful who called Trump racist last month.
And it shows where Brown, fresh off a swing through Iowa, sits in the ongoing debate over whether Democrats need a candidate willing to lock horns with Trump or one who subscribes to the mantra of "when they go low, we go high."
Watch Brown's full interview here, and check out other stories from the 2020 beat you may have missed over the weekend.
- Politico is out with a new poll that shows anti-Trump voters and Democrats are more open to supporting a third-party candidate than Republicans, numbers that could add to Democratic concerns that former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz could hurt the Democratic Party's chances at flipping the White House. Schultz's team released limited polling to "Meet the Press" on Sunday that shows Schultz pulling 17 percent in hypothetical matchups against Trump and either California Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris or Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren. But that internal polling doesn't include crosstabs, or an indication as to whether other questions in the poll could have influenced responses.
- Days after he officially jumped into the race, New Jersey Democratic Sen. Cory Booker is staffing up in early primary states, hiring Hillary Clinton's 2016 South Carolina state director.
South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg waded into the primary field's healthcare debate by arguing in favor of single payer while adding that there are more "gradual" oaths to get there that don't require immediately scrapping private insurance all together.
- Former Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada walked right up to the line on endorsing Warren, telling the Boston Globe that "anything I can do to help Elizabeth Warren short of the endorsement, I will do."
- The Atlantic says former Vice President Joe Biden is closing in on another run for president, with the story quoting him telling a major investor that he's "70 percent there, but I'm not all the way there."