Ohio鈥檚 U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown has stirred up controversy by labeling President Trump鈥檚 adviser Steve Bannon a racist, and saying another adviser may be one as well. 

Brown was on CNN鈥檚 State of the Union program Sunday, when host Dana Bash asked if he agreed with Congresswoman Frederica Wilson that the Trump White House is full of racists. He responded by saying.

鈥淚 agree that Steve Bannon is a white supremacist and Steven Miller seems to be and I know that studies have shown that they have their allies sprinkled around the White House,鈥� Brown said.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders has shot back, calling those characterizations 鈥渙utrageous and slanderous.鈥�

State Treasurer Josh Mandel, who hopes to run against Brown next year, told Breitbart news 鈥� which Bannon runs 鈥� that Brown鈥檚 comments were 鈥渄esperate, false and beneath the dignity of his office.鈥�

Mike Gibbons, the Cleveland businessman who is running against Mandel for the Republican nomination, also criticized Brown, calling the comment slanderous, and saying Brown 鈥渋s flailing to keep his job.鈥�