Senator Scott P. Brown, the Massachusetts Republican who is trying to fend off a strong challenge from Elizabeth Warren, has found himself burdened once again by his party label and is trying to distance himself from it.
His latest move comes in response to comments by Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential candidate, who said at a closed-door fund-raiser in May that almost half the country backs President Obama because they view themselves as victims and are dependent on government for health care, food and housing.
“That's not the way I view the world,†Mr. Brown said in a statement Tuesday. “As someone who grew up in tough circumstances, I know that being on public assistance is not a spot that anyone wants to be in.â€
Mr. Brown, who saw Mr. Romney as a mentor during their days in Massachusetts politics, has endorsed him for president. They even share a top political adviser.
But as a Republican running in a deep blue state, Mr. Brown has stepped away from his national party on several occasions. He made only a brief appearance at the Republican National Convention last month in Tampa, Fla., and declined a speaking role there. He also took issue with the party's platform on abortion, saying it was too stringent. Mr. Brown has released six years of his tax returns and has urged Mr. Romney to release more of his.
Mr. Brown's latest step-away comes as polls show that Mr. Romney is faring miserably in the polls in Massachusetts against President Obama, despite having once been elected as the state's governor. Such severe unpopularity could drag Mr. Brown down on Election Day.
Ms. Warren criticized M r. Romney's comments, saying that he “just wrote off half the people in Massachusetts and half the people in America as deadbeats.â€
For good measure, she added: “Scott Brown is strongly supporting Mitt Romney for president of the United States. I'm strongly supporting Barack Obama.â€
Mr. Brown also used Mr. Romney's remarks to attack Ms. Warren. He said that people were being forced onto public assistance because they could not find a job and that her policies would lead to higher taxes on small businesses that would cost Massachusetts thousands of jobs and “force even more people onto public assistance.â€
Other Republicans who have criticized Mr. Romney's statements include Linda McMahon, who is running for the Senate in Connecticut, and Representative Allen B. West of Florida.
Follow Katharine Q. Seelye on Twitter at @kseelye.
