Trump-endorsed Senate candidate Bernie Moreno faults rival for distancing himself from Harris

LANCASTER, Ohio (AP) — Republican Bernie Moreno blasted Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown as he followed his campaign bus on its tour across Ohio Friday, accusing his rival of trying to distance himself from Vice President Kamala Harris despite many shared policy positions.

Speaking to about 75 people over coffee and doughnuts in the city of Lancaster, the Trump-endorsed Cleveland businessman said Brown’s intention not to campaign with Harris as she makes her bid for president flies in the face of the pair’s long-term political alliance. That included Harris visiting Ohio to raise money for Brown’s 2018 Senate campaign and musing during her truncated 2020 presidential campaign about making Brown her running mate.

This year, Moreno said, Brown is instead pitching himself to voters as if he’s a moderate, bipartisan Trump supporter.

“If Kamala Harris steps foot into Ohio, Sherrod Brown’s going to run into his basement and tell Connie (Schultz, his wife) not to answer the door,” Moreno said, to laughter.

Since Brown last ran, the former bellwether state has tagged strongly to the right, twice supporting Republican Donald Trump for president by wide margins.

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