Things got funny on CNN on Tuesday, May 5, with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) angrily denouncing and castigating Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) over his criticisms of Democrats, particularly as rumors abound that Fetterman might ditch the Democratic Party because of its far-left shift.
As background, Fetterman has been a routine critic of his party’s leftward elements, particularly Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). While many believe that to be just an act meant to make him more acceptable to moderate voters in Pennsylvania, Republicans have tried to capitalize on it by encouraging him to switch sides and join the GOP.
In fact, though Sen. Fetterman has so far said he isn’t switching, Politico’s Jonathan Martin reported, “Trump has made the sell, offering his patented total and complete endorsement plus a financial windfall to the Pennsylvanian. A handful of Senate Republicans are also gently feeling out Fetterman and responding to his concerns over the prospect of defecting from the Democratic Party, multiple high-level GOP officials tell me.”
Further, Martin reported that Fetterman has even drifted away from Democrats in social events, saying, “First, the Senate is akin to a high school cafeteria. And Fetterman these days is much more comfortable sitting, quite literally, with the Republicans. He never shows up for Democrat-only gatherings, such as the caucus’s regular luncheons.” He added that Fetterman gets along well with John Thune.
It was with that in mind that Gov. Shapiro threw a temper tantrum about Sen. Fetterman, declaring that Fetterman must remain in the Democratic Party because it is the party that elected him to power, and he needs to reflect the will of the people of Pennsylvania. Left out of that was that Pennsylvania went for Trump in 2024.
Shapiro’s rant came when he spoke to CNN’s Jake Tapper on “The Lead”, with Tapper asking him about the swirling rumors that Fetterman might forsake the Democratic Party at the behest of Republicans who quite want him to either join the GOP or become a GOP-allied independent.
Tapper asked, “Before you go, I do want to ask you one political question, POLITICO’s Jonathan Martin is reporting that there is a quiet but serious effort by Senate Republicans like Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA) and Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) to get Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman to switch parties, to become an Independent, and caucus with Republicans. What’s your take on that?”
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Shapiro answered by saying that he doesn’t know what Fetterman will do, but thinks that he should stick to being a Democratic Party senator. He said, “Look, I don’t know what Sen. Fetterman’s going to do. I know that Pennsylvanians voted for a Democrat to represent them in the United States Senate.”
Concluding, Shapiro declared it to be a matter of honor whether Fetterman stays Democrat or not, saying, “And so, I think he needs to honor that and continue with his service to Pennsylvania, and, hopefully, get back to what he was elected to do and reflect the will of the people.”
Watch him here:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video