While President Donald Trump is the “worst president in [his] lifetime,” it’s important for everyone to remember that “this is not the worst time in our nation’s history,” U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) said Friday.

“The McCarthy era was worse. The Depression was worse. The Civil War, to be sure, was worse. We will get through this. The question is how do we heal as a nation and as a society after this divisiveness?” Brown said during a Columbus Metropolitan Club (CMC) panel with his daughter, Columbus City Councilwoman Elizabeth Brown. WBNS 10TV anchor Scott Light moderated the event, during which a range of topics were discussed including the Browns’ family life and politics.

Sherrod Brown said he wasn’t surprised by the president’s recent comments telling four minority Democratic congresswomen to “go back” to their countries of origin and “help fix the totally broken and crime-infested places from which they came.” U.S. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) were born in the U.S., while U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) was born in Somalia but has been an American citizen since the year 2000. During a recent Trump rally, the crowd chanted “send her back” after the president attacked Omar.

“I think this presidential election is going to be Donald Trump playing to race and immigration and fear. This whole election will be about that. That was just sort of the beginning the other night. It’s troubling,” Sherrod Brown said. “I think this country’s better than that. I am way more optimistic for this country and this state than to believe that will work. …

“He is a racist,” Sherrod Brown continued, pointing to Trump’s history that includes a finding from the Nixon administration’s Department of Justice that he refused to rent to black tenants, his calling for the Central Park Five to be executed, his “birther” attacks on former President Barack Obama and his indifferent reaction to violent white supremacists marching in Charlottesville, VA.

“That he would try to build his name and image and future around dividing people, that’s bad enough. So much of his presidency has been divisions. He mocks his opponents. He criticizes the people he hired,” he continued. “It’s all upheaval, chaos, injecting anger and division and race and religion into our public discourse. It’s troubling.”

He said he recently met with U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) and other congressional Republicans regarding Trump’s racist comments, noting he couldn’t go into specifics regarding the private discussion but noted there were feelings of “anguish” among all involved.

Elizabeth Brown said she’s not worried about young people being turned off by politics because the current toxicity of the discourse.

“I mean it is hard to see what’s going on. I really felt more nervous and more scared after the ‘send her back’ chants at the Trump rally two nights ago -- I don’t care what your political opinions are. That was shocking. I don’t mean to diminish how appalling the news cycle can be on a daily basis. But I see regular people every day that are really engaged in the process,” she said, pointing to her work helping organize events for women to decide if they want to run for office.

Sherrod Brown said he learned about the importance of public service and civil justice from his mother, noting her passion for civil rights.

“Her last good day on Earth was the inauguration of Barack Obama. She had supported Obama before anybody else in the family,” he said.

He said his dad was a family physician, and was a little more skeptical about his interest in running for office than his mother was at the beginning of his career.

“My dad, actually, was one of maybe 12 people in America that voted for Barry Goldwater in 1964 and George McGovern in 1972. … Although the 1972 vote had a lot to do with the influence of his sons,” he said. “But my dad always would care for people regardless of ability to pay. He found ways to take care of low-income patients. So he taught me that.”

Speaking about her father’s influence on her, Elizabeth Brown said one scene that’s always stuck with her is when she was about 10 years old and a man at church stopped them to thank Sherrod Brown for voting against the Defense of Marriage Act in the U.S. House.

“I really ran for office because of my dad. I don’t know that I otherwise would’ve had the faith … that I could do this work and make an impact without having to compromise principle,” she said. “There’s almost a myth out there that politicians don’t have people’s backs, and I lived with proof that they can. I grew up seeing that. You don’t have to move to the squishy middle, if you will, in order to get things done. You can accomplish things and also stick to your principles.”

Speaking with reporters after the event, Sherrod Brown was critical of legislative efforts to direct money to FirstEnergy Solutions to keep the state's two nuclear plants from closing.

“I don’t like it when government bails out a company and it makes people’s rates go up,” he said. “I’m not in the decision-making, I’m not in Columbus in the Legislature, but it sounds to me that this company is looking to ratepayers and taxpayers for more help than it should get.”

Sherrod Brown said Trump should not be impeached at this point in time.

“I don’t think we should do that. I think investigations should go forward. I think the president has done all kinds of things that are wrong and maybe illegal. I think he’s obstructed justice. But the political system isn’t ready to do that. Maybe it will be at some point. Our focus should on defeating Donald Trump for reelection. He’s not fit to be president of the United States,” he said.