Sen. Sherrod Brown (D., Ohio) said Sunday he has not had a dream of running for president but his message to workers is what Democrats need to beat President Donald Trump in 2020.
On ABC’s "This Week," Brown told anchor George Stephanopoulos that as a newly re-elected senator, he and his wife Connie have had an overwhelming number of people telling him to run for president.
"Since the election, Connie and I have been overwhelmed by the number of people from around the country that have said we should think about doing this. I haven't made trips to Iowa or New Hampshire, I haven't done any of those things to prepare, which is fine because the Iowa caucuses are 13 months away," he said.
He went on to say he’s thinking about it, but he downplayed that possibility and talked up the prospect of other Democratic candidates using his message.
"We're seriously thinking about it and talking about it with family and friends and political allies who have come to me about this. Ideally I want my message of the dignity of work to—I want that to be the narrative for other Democratic candidates. That’s how you beat Donald Trump"
Brown went on to say the White House is a "retreat for Wall Street executives" that doesn't pay attention to working Americans. Asked about whether he could work with Trump, Brown said he’s involved in trade negotiations but the current deal "falls short," and he expressed the expectation that Trump will continue "not lift[ing] a finger" on an infrastructure plan.
He finished by blasting Trump for being a "racist" populist.
"To me, populism—it’s never anti-Semitic, it’s never racist, it never pushes people down in order to lift others up; That’s the phony populism of Donald Trump," Brown said. "To me, populism respects the dignity of work and moves forward and tries to lift all boats."