Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman mocked the Working Families Party on Tuesday after the group announced it will support a primary challenge against him. The Pennsylvania WFP posted on X that it intended to primary Fetterman after he voted to pass a budget bill to reopen the government, accusing him of having “once again sold out working Pennsylvanians.”
Fetterman responded on Fox News’ “The Story” and said a challenger from the left would only make him appear more appealing to voters, The Daily Caller reported.
“Ooh, ooh, oh, I hope, promise. I hope so,” Fetterman joked.
“Because I guarantee whoever they put up, they’re going to make me look the reasonable guy that’s going to work with both sides together and find a way for Pennsylvania.”
He defended his vote to keep the government open and said the WFP was lying about his intentions.
“And now it’s an absolute lie,” Fetterman said.
“Voting to keep our government open, that was a vote to make sure that 42 million Americans get their SNAP.”
“And now we’re going to pay all these people, like the military and the Capitol Police and all of those folks now, too. So now if they want to primary me … but my point, it’s like I’ve been on the side of common sense and I’ve always gonna put our country for party.”
“And I think most people now realize that shutting our government down was wrong.”
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Fetterman ran as a self-described progressive when he won his Senate seat in 2022, but angered members of his own party over positions on foreign policy, immigration, and the government shutdown, as well as his diplomatic approach toward President Donald Trump.
He was critical of Democratic leaders for refusing to reopen the government during the record-long shutdown and said the standoff was harming Americans.
Despite the friction, Fetterman has repeatedly said he has no plans to leave the Democratic Party.
Sen. Fetterman said this month during the government shutdown that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) “never” spoke with him about the shutdown, adding that “no one really knows” who is leading Democrats.
Fetterman made the remarks during an appearance on Fox & Friends, responding to an Axios report that Schumer had privately urged a group of moderate Democrats in mid-October to keep the government closed until at least the start of the Affordable Care Act open enrollment on Nov. 1.
“I was not in a conversation or I never got any outreach,” said Fetterman, adding that “everyone understood” his position.
“I really kind of led the charge [to keep the government open] back in March. And then I said, ‘I know we’ll be back in September.’ And I said, ‘I know where my vote will be then, too.’”
“It’s always a hard yes to keep our government open,” he explained Tuesday during his Fox appearance. “I mean, that’s my principle, because it’s wrong to shut our government down. And now we knew that we would put [at risk] those 42 million Americans for SNAP and paying our military and, you know, the Capitol Police.
“I mean, people have went five weeks without being paid. I mean, that’s a violation of my core values. And I think it’s [a violation of] our party’s [values] as well,” he added.
He blasted his fellow Democrats for turning the shutdown into a political stunt, calling it an “absolute failure” and reminding them that “Americans are not leverage.”
Asked by co-host Lawrence Jones: “Who is running the show now in the Democratic Party, in the Senate, in the House?”, the Pennsylvanian made a stunning admission.
“No one really knows,” Fetterman responded. “My values are reflected in my vote and the things that I support here, and if that might put me at odds with parts of my party, I’m okay with that. I mean, we need to be a … big tent party.”
