Sherrod Brown Announces Senate Run on MeidasTouch

0:00Ben Meiselas:Red states turning blue in the midterms. Are we going to see some Senate seats, real critical Senate seats turn blue? I mean, if you take a look right now, though, at just overall United States, you look at Trump's net approval ratings nationwide. The new Pew poll has his approval at 38 percent. But you look across all groups, whether it's black, Hispanic, whites, 18 to 29 to 65 and over. It's negative on anything, men, women across the entire country, net huge net negatives there. And then as you start looking into, you know, different red states, if people are happy with the economy, for example, you look at a state like Ohio, are people happy with the economy and the way it's being handled?

0:46Ben Meiselas:Trump and Republicans in particular in Congress and the Senate are underwater there. But especially Congress is deeply underwater in a state like Ohio. You know, are Republicans in the Senate? Are you ask that question like Bowling Greens asked about Republicans? What are they doing in Ohio? Very much underwater there. But then you have these conversations with these, you know, MAGA Republican senators like like Senator Bernie Marino from Ohio. And you say, you know, tell us how are things going? You know, he'll say things are going great. It's incredible. This is we've never been better as a nation.

1:22Ben Meiselas:there's no inflation things things are amazing and we see people in a state like ohio struggling that's why it's not surprising me when you look at when you start looking at people getting pissed at what's happening in a red state like that they want change they want they want normalcy this was a recent interview i saw of senator bernie moreno um on cnn let's play this clip has been replaced by epsi and epsi and president trump has made historic accomplishments the first six months. I'm incredibly proud of what the administration has done. And I am incredibly proud of the fact that I could play even a tiny role in making that happen.

1:56Ben Meiselas:We're getting our country back on track. This country is hotter than it's ever been. It was on its knees a year ago, and we are the hottest country on earth right now. It's really not. First off, it's just a weird thing to keep saying. We're hot. We're the hottest. Tell that to the people who are getting kicked off their health care that we're so hot. Tell it to the people who are losing their jobs in factories right now. Tell it to the people who are living paycheck to paycheck that they're hot. Is that Mar-a-Lago language in Ohio? Hot? What the hell are you talking about? And then here you have, you know, let's see what real people are saying in Ohio when they try to call their senators, when they try to call John Husted, or when they try to call Moreno.

2:39Ben Meiselas:Here, play this clip. She says she reached out to state representatives to talk about cuts to assistance programs her students rely on and didn't hear back, deciding to create a forum for folks to voice their concerns. When I started contacting Senator Husset and Senator Moreno, it was because of my students, because they have SNAP benefits. They are being raised by their grandparents who are on Social Security. You just must slap in the face to people when you say we're hot and people are struggling just to even be able to get health care, to be able to afford a home, afford rent. Let's bring in former Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown.

3:16Ben Meiselas:Senator, it's good to see you made a big announcement this morning. Talk about the announcement and why you decided to get back in the race. Yeah, I announced today for the United States Senate. For months, I've watched things get worse in this country. I built my career are always speaking out in support of workers against the rigged system. It's been rigged for years. It's gotten worse. This big Medicaid bill that passed means that 490 ,000 Ohioans will lose their health insurance in a state of 12 million. And a number, as many as a dozen hospitals, rural hospitals are at risk of closing because of these cuts to patients, to disabled patients, to older patients, to patients who have jobs but don't have insurance.

4:06So that's what this race is all about. It's whose side are you on. It's not left or right. It's whose side are you on. And clearly, I've taken the side of workers. My opponent, John Husted, has always sided with special interests.

4:18Ben Meiselas:Senator, Ohio is hurting right now. You were warning about this, and people are pissed and frustrated about the way Congress and the Senate is handling things. And, you know, you were telling people this is what was going to happen if we don't work together, if we don't figure out real solutions. Can you talk about what's happening in Ohio right now? Yeah, there were wherever my wife and I go, whether it's a grocery store or supermarket or a drugstore, whether we're walking down the street where we have the Fourth of July parade and in the town we live in, people are coming up and saying they're hurting that that this system has always been rigged, but it's worse now.

4:57They're seeing neighbors lose insurance. They're seeing grocery prices go up. They're seeing drug prices go up. They know that this rake system has gotten worse and they want somebody to fight for them. And that's in the end why I decided to get off the sidelines and get back in this and fight for workers, because Ohio has no nobody in the Senate is looking out for Ohio workers. And I'm going to be that again.

5:20Ben Meiselas:Just to remind people, you serve three terms in the Senate. You ran again in 2024. four. You ran against Bernie Moreno, who's now the sitting senator. Moreno kind of pretended that he was, I'm fighting for people. It was just a total kind of BS shtick. The seat you're now running for is against John Husted, who was appointed by the governor after J.D. Vance vacated the seat to become vice president. That's just the who's who there. You've always been fighting for the people. As you said in the intro, you've been fighting for the people in Ohio, but these Morenos and these Republicans, they almost pretend to do your shtick because they realize that you're fighting for the public.

6:07Ben Meiselas:And for you, it's what you live and breathe. It's what you do. For them, they think it's like a routine, and then they go into power, and then they harm those very people. How do we break that cycle? Or can you kind of speak to that? Because they pretend to be you to beat you. Then they come in and then they help the oligarchs. Yeah, they really do. I mean, people overwhelmingly think the system is rigged. It's been that way for a long time. They think it's more rigged today and they think it's rigged because no matter how hard they work, they can't get ahead because they see what corporations are doing.

6:41And they also see that too many politicians like Marino and like Husted are in bed with those special interests. And so to me, politics isn't left or right. It really is who side you on. And when this guy that I'm running against is his name is John Husted. He was lieutenant governor. He was secretary. I mean, he throughout his career has sided with interest groups, sided with the richest people in the country, in the state, sided with the largest corporations. And so he's just doing it in a different arena now. So no surprise that he's a corporate guy that's going to continue to side with those people that are taking advantage of workers.

7:20And my focus has always been working families. It's how Democrats win elections. Put that aside. It's what we need to do in the Senate and the House. These guys, you said it perfectly, these guys talk a good game, but then they vote for the largest tax cut for the richest, the biggest tax cut for billionaires in American history, running up the deficit, taking huge numbers of people off of their health insurance and causing drug prices to go up, all the things that the voters don't want. And that's what the election is going to be about. It's not left or right. It's whose side are you on? And it's are you on the side of billionaires and the side of workers?

8:01Are you on the side of the largest corporations in the country? Or are you on the side of the middle class and working families? And that's a really clear and easy message. Democrats stick to it. It will be a whole different kind of an election. And that's something that I've implored my colleagues to do for years. And I think people finally are understanding it.

8:20Ben Meiselas:I suppose that the country is hot if we're talking about billionaires getting all the benefits and being as rich as they ever were and getting more tax cuts. But as you look around your state in Ohio, I mean, are people waking up there in this economy in 2025 as inflation is rising, as people are getting kicked off of health care, as people can't afford homes and they can't afford their rent? I mean, are people in Ohio go, whoa, this is hot. This is I'm hot. This is amazing. Is that what you're seeing or are you seeing broken? Considering the temperatures in the Midwest this summer, it's kind of a weird term to use, but putting that aside, voters didn't vote for this.

9:01They didn't vote for, keep in mind, 12 million people in the state, half a million are going to lose their insurance. These are mostly working families that work for an employer that doesn't provide insurance or their kids or their seniors or their disabled people. Those are the people that are losing their health insurance. People didn't vote for that. They didn't vote for drug prices to go up. They didn't vote for higher grocery bills. They didn't vote for veterans benefits being slashed. They didn't vote for any of this. And, you know, whatever their allegiance to the president is doesn't matter in that sense.

9:35What matters is they know this rigged system is getting worse, has gotten worse for the last eight months. It's why I'm back in the arena making this fight because I know that there's no – you saw these two guys. I mean, you saw you mentioned the two from Ohio. There's nobody speaking up for workers in the United States, for Ohio workers in the United States Senate. And people are understanding that when they think whose side are you on. And that's only why I'm going to win is that we're making that we're making that pitch loud and clear. It's why Ohio workers will be better represented come January of 27.

10:08Ben Meiselas:Where can people find out more about the campaign that was just announced? Where can they go and look? Yeah. Now that we kicked off the campaign this morning, they can come to share brown dot com. Sherrod Brown dot com kick in 15 bucks, sign up, talk about helping. You've got relatives in Ohio. You're from Ohio. Whatever you can do that way. Sherrod Brown dot com. I appreciate you giving me the chance to say that. Yeah. And then before we go, just one more question. I mean, how big are the stakes? How important do you see your race as and what should just what should voters finally take away as as they're watching this video?

10:41I think the fact that I've always been an elected official that speaks out for workers. My first big vote in the House of Representatives years ago was against the North American Free Trade Agreement. And I know the damage that did to my state and to states from Allentown, Pennsylvania to Madison, Wisconsin. I know the kind of damage it did. And what's at stake here is that we begin electing people who stand up for workers, who want workers at the table making these decisions, who want workers to be highlighted. I mean, I learned politics many years ago by when the legislature in Ohio wasn't in session.

11:25I'd go to the steelworkers hall or the autoworkers hall. I'd just listen to people come off their second or third shift or first or second shift, really. And you would hear the anguish in their voice or you'd hear the inspiration in their voice when they signed a good union contract. And you just, if we get out and start listening to people, we win elections. And I hope that's what comes out of my election, that I've done that and I sided with workers every single time. And we move forward with a better country because if we do that, we will be a better country. will shrink that gap between rich and poor that we've seen explode and even explode more in this Congress in the last eight months.

12:05Ben Meiselas:Well, I want to thank you, Senator Sherrod Brown, running right now. We need you back in there. We appreciate you making your first exclusive YouTube announcement here. Great to see you. Thanks for what you're doing. I really appreciate it. New Midas merch. Head to store.midastouch.com today and get yourself the best pro-democracy gear and show your support. That's store.midastouch.com.