Sherrod Brown pleads ignorance on defunding ICE: ‘I’m not close enough to make those decisions’

With the primary in the rear-view mirror and eyes focused on November’s election, some media outlets like CNN are trumpeting Sherrod Brown’s potential return to the U.S. Senate.

They’re also working overtime to bolster his credentials as a moderate, even though he has previously ranked among the most liberal in the U.S. Senate.

“Sherrod Brown is the absolute perfect political cicada,” Republican U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno, who ousted Brown from his seat two years ago, told CNN. “This is a guy who comes out of the ground and pretends he’s this moderate, working-class American, and then comes here to Washington, DC, and he’s a hardcore liberal.”

Brown, who began his political career more than 50 years ago and considered running for president in 2020, is seeking to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. Jon Husted, appointed to the post by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine to replace JD Vance after he was elected as Vice President in 2024.

When asked a quasi-pressing question by CNN’s Manu Raju about whether he supports liberals’ positions of abolishing ICE and stopping arms sales to Israel, he punted.

“I’m not paying enough attention to know what votes are coming up,” he told the outlet.

He took a similar tack when pressed on whether he supports abolishing ICE, a popular position for many Democrats.

“I don’t – I’m not close enough to make those decisions,” Brown told CNN. “I think for sure we need rules around ICE.”

🚨WEAK: Sherrod Brown refuses to denounce the radical left’s calls to abolish ICE.

“I’m not close enough to make those decisions.” pic.twitter.com/1wD1EdscZn

— Senate Republicans (@NRSC) May 17, 2026

Ohio has shifted from a swing state to a reliably Republican state in recent elections. However, polls thus far show the race is tight, and Ohioans will likely spend the next few months enduring countless ads, no matter which platform they use to consume content.

“[Brown] has much better name recognition. And I think in this environment of rising prices, uncertainty, the war, etc., he has the advantage,” Tom Sutton, a former political science professor at Baldwin Wallace University in Berea, told WFMJ Weekend Today, according to The Columbus Dispatch.

Brown also has a money advantage.

CBS News, citing Federal Election Commission filings, reported that Brown raised $10.1 million in the first quarter, while Husted reported $2.9 million. Heading into the primary earlier this month, Brown had $17 million in cash on hand, while Husted had $8.1 million.

“(Brown) tries to portray himself as an outsider in the hopes that voters will forget he lived in Washington for more than three decades,” Husted spokeswoman Amy Natoce told Cleveland.com. “It didn’t work in 2024, and it won’t work now. It’s time he faced his failing D.C. record head-on.”