Should the Democratic Party be listening to John Fetterman? - POLITICO
(I kind of like the new Fetterman, the last one had a stroke and is probably hooked up to machines and tubes; or took the final way out of this world. Is Politico calling democrats to get rid of Fetterman?)
Fetterman said billionaire Elon Musk’s endorsement of Trump also mattered — and that Democrats looked “weak” when they tried unsuccessfully to stop his $1 million giveaway to voters.He also said the assassination attempt on Trump in Butler, a 45-minute drive from his home, “changed everything.”
“Immediately after that, when I was out, I saw people with custom shirts with that image,” he said, referring to the iconic photo of Trump raising his fist after being shot. “It’s like, ‘They tried everything. They impeached this man, they put him on trial. You know, the media. And now they tried to kill him, and he survived.’ And he had the presence of mind to even respond, and created that.What if that was [Barack] Obama? Can you imagine what that would have meant to Democrats?”
We also talked with Fetterman about why he disagreed with Kamala Harris’ decision to call Trump a “fascist,” how Republicans overcame Democrats’ edge on abortion this year, and what issues he could work on with Trump.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
After Joe’s Biden debate over the summer, you didn’t think he should drop out.
We can both agree that he had a rough debate.
People like [Nancy] Pelosi, she really tried to — what’s the word I’m looking for? — she embraced this “she’s the godmother, she’s the enforcer.” And now she’s blaming Biden.Well, you can’t have it both ways. You got what you wanted, and now you’re still blaming Biden.
I think it’s really ironic that you have a woman at age 84 and she is still hanging on.Why not give a younger generation an opportunity to occupy that seat?
Given what we know now — how much of a red wave the election was, the fact that inflation was a big part of the results — do you think that Biden would have won?
We’ll never know if Biden would win or not. We knew it was going to be very close. It was really tough.
What did you make of Harris’ decision to call Trump a fascist?
I love people that are absolutely going to vote for Trump. They’re not fascists. They’re not those things. I think if you go to the tickle switch, use those kinds of terms, then it’s kind of hard to walk back on those things.
That’s kind of a word that really isn’t part of the vernacular for voters. Scolding harder or clutching the pearls harder, that’s never going to work for Democrats.
Looking back, do you think that the Ohio and Montana seats in the Senate were ever winnable? Or should Democrats have focused their resources elsewhere?
I said that Montana, Trump was going to carry it by 20 points. Everybody loves [Jon] Tester. I mean, he’s a real real. You can be incredibly strong, but nobody can bench press 1,000 pounds.
It’s strange that Democrats were absolutely committed to investing a lot of money in that situation, but then they ditched Biden.
[Sherrod] Brown is one of the hardest-working dudes I’ve ever witnessed, and he left everything on the field. But it’s also undeniable Ohio is a hard-red state.
Exit polls show men aged 18 to 29 voted for Trump. From going to your campaign events in 2022, I know you have a lot of supporters who are young men. You went on Joe Rogan’s podcast this year. What have you learned about how to appeal to these voters?
I think this election was a serious flex for bros. And you know, it was strange that Democrats are like, “Oh, childless cat ladies. How dare you.” Okay, that is weird. I don’t know why [JD] Vance would say that — you can be pro-family without insulting people that choose not to have kids or are unable to have kids. But it’s the same thing. I mean, is the term “bros” positive?And the media use that so liberally, pejoratively. Like, well, they’re unsophisticated, they’re shallow, or they’re crass. And we dismiss them.
https://archive.is/IQydT