Sen John Fetterman’s maverick streak sparks Democratic primary challenge threat
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John Fetterman was unfortunately known as the man who had the stroke.
And maybe the guy who always wears a hoodie.
This has changed dramatically.
Now the Pennsylvania senator has alienated much of his own Democratic Party with an independent streak that often puts him on the side of the Trump administration.
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Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., has spent the last few years emerging as a maverick within his party. (Nathan Howard/Getty Images)
Now it’s Joe Manchin who has driven the Biden people crazy by resisting many of his liberal initiatives.
But I would go further than that. I think he’s more like the late John McCain – except for the prisoner of war part, of course – as a happy-go-lucky man who enjoys breaking away from party orthodoxy. As you may recall, Republican McCain was an advocate for campaign finance reform alongside a true Democrat in Russ Feingold.
Is Fetterman paying a price? Oh yes.
Fetterman’s popularity took a hit. He was at plus 68 points in 2023. It is currently at minus 40 points. That’s a 108-point swing, absolutely stunning.
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Now some Democrats are openly talking about a primary challenge against Fetterman in 2028, assuming he runs again.
Fetterman revealed his latest transgression in a statement to Fox News: voting to confirm President Trump’s pick of Markwayne Mullin as Secretary of Homeland Security, proving to be the deciding vote in removing his nomination from committee. Mullin was just confirmed.
“I believe in a very secure border,” Fetterman told Lara Trump. “We also agreed that all criminals should be deported. My friend Markwayne and I agree on this…
“I know I’m going to be subject to Democratic backlash, which is weird for me because there wasn’t a lot of Democratic outrage during the previous administration when we had 300,000 people at our border. I… We might have been in the same Democratic Party, but they obviously had no problem with the open border situation.”
He added: “This might isolate me from some people in my party. But this is not a nationwide party.”
Fetterman voted to confirm Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Country over party? Does this concept even exist anymore in this hyper-polarized age? This feeling was admired. Not so much now.
Let’s face it, Democrats would vote against any DHS nominee this side of Bernie Sanders just because that person was chosen by Trump.
Along the same lines, Fetterman has largely supported the president’s war against Iran, the world’s leading terrorist state since 1979, again breaking with Chuck Schumer and the party line that the attack can only be criticized.
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In X, Fetterman implied that he pressured President Trump to fire Kristi Noem.
He also said his party was motivated by Trump Disequilibrium Syndrome (TDS).
Fetterman is also angered by James Carville, who admitted to having TDS and attacked Trump with obscenity-filled tirades.
“Can I pray together?” Carville said in a podcast. “John Fetterman, whatever you do, hold your position. Don’t change. We don’t want you. Stay where you are. Because you’ve been wrong about every (expletive) thing you’ve said, and we don’t want you to break your streak.”
Fetterman responded to Carville in the Fox News interview: “Jim has been striving for relevance for the last 30 years. I’m proud to be on the right side of Epic Fury. I’m proud to be on the right side of staying in Israel…
“He accepted that [he’s] Blinded by TDS. I’m actually a guy representing Pennsylvania. I’m not some angry weird guy online. “You know, to represent a state like Pennsylvania that keeps you honest, and I’m the only one to flip the seat this cycle.”
Fetterman has been garnering a lot of critical press. Guard He reported that his vote for Mullin “led another Pennsylvania Democrat, U.S. House member Brendan Boyle, to explain why the vote showed Fetterman was Donald Trump’s ‘favorite Democrat.'”
“He needs to go,” Boyle said.
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Rep. Pat Ryan, DY said: “If you needed any more proof that Fetterman has completely abandoned his constituents, here it is. Pennsylvanians deserve a senator who truly fights for them.”
In the 2022 U.S. Senate race, Fetterman, after defeating former Rep. Conor Lamb (D-Pa.) in the primary, is overall ahead of Rep. Conor Lamb, R-Pa., despite a terrible debate in which Fetterman could barely function. He defeated Mehmet Öz.
Lamb says now: “Did people think this vigilante was voting to protect their rights? Come on.”
Moe Davis of North Carolina, who ran unsuccessfully for the House of Representatives, is now apologizing for sharing his donor list with the Fetterman team. “I sincerely regret whatever part I played in helping the election.” [Fetterman] In 2022.”
Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., says Fetterman “has to go.” (Robert Deutsch/USA Today Network)
On the other side, Washington Comptroller Columnist Salena Zito, who reports extensively from Pennsylvania, shared this statistic with radio host Hugh Hewitt: “Lamb’s claim that Fetterman is not a real Democrat is that Fetterman gave 93% of the votes to Democrats, while Lamb voted 68% to Democrats. That’s almost a 30-point difference.”
Zito added: “There’s a lot of posturing, but it’s very hard for me to find anyone outside of the far left, even though the Democrats I’ve talked to know that there’s some kind of online movement against Fetterman, and by the way, this all has to do with Israel, right?”
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If you put the partisan warfare aside for a moment — very difficult, I know — Fetterman shows the courage of his convictions. The man has courage.
Fetterrman, who still wears his trademark hoodie, may have strayed too far from Democratic voters, but that’s a risk he’s chosen to take.
I wonder if struggling after a stroke is a factor here. In his brutally candid memoirs, Fetterman admits he struggled with depression, even suicidal thoughts, and was exiled from the family home by his wife because his presence was too harsh on the children. Looking back, he wrote, “I should have let it go.”
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“Paranoid. Doesn’t eat. Doesn’t sleep. Doesn’t talk. Doesn’t work. Resigned. Ashamed. Hopeless.”
John Fetterman was harder on himself than anyone else. I wonder if this fuels his desire to say what he really thinks, no matter the political cost. Whatever happened in his Senate career, he’s been through much worse.
