Bucks County, Pa. — Arizona Democrat Sen. Ruben Gallego said Republicans are trying to pull John Fetterman to the right, arguing that Democrats should stay on their corner as they face Pennsylvania Senators changing their health questions and political figures.
“We need space for our Caucus Fettermen and other senators,” he said in an interview Saturday. “He’s still a senator fighting for working class people. We may not agree on many times in many areas, but we don’t need to.”
While some Democrats are keeping their distance from Fetterman, top Republican Republicans are gathering around him in the wake of news reports that his current and former staff are concerned about his mental and physical health. Several GOP senators, including Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), and Dave McCormick (R-Pa.), have come to defend Fetterman on social media.
“The radical left smears him with rigged and vicious attacks, as he is a pro-Israel and only wants a reliable anti-Israel politician,” Cotton said.
When asked if Republicans were trying to pull Fetterman into the GOP, Gallego said “of course.”
“In the Marines, we call these fuck fuck games,” Gallego said.
Fetterman repeatedly says that he won’t change the party. But that doesn’t stop some conservatives from trying to push him to vote on their priorities, and will probably come more widely on their side. Conservative group Club for Growth praised television ads in Pennsylvania this weekend as “stopping up for all working families in Pennsylvania,” urging President Donald Trump’s tax cuts.
Fetterman has voted against the budget blueprint that laid the foundation for a massive package that includes an extension of Trump’s first term tax cuts, and he said Friday that he is against the efforts. Gallego expressed his confidence that Fetterman will continue to hold on to his position, saying, “I think the last thing he does is to hurt working-class families by voting for a settlement bill.”
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer says Fetterman is an “all-star” who “does a good job,” but several House Democrats in Fetterman’s state have provided a chilly response, with recent reports raising questions and voters saying they should read it. Fetterman also garnered criticism from some people on the left side of his hard-line position in Israel and his recent meeting with Trump.
At Galego’s City Hall, Galego repeatedly emphasized the need for Democrats to maintain a large tent. He was asked by members of the audience why he had fundraised with Marc Andreessen, a pro-trump businessman. Gallego said it runs “the largest venture capital company in Arizona.”
“We’ve become very pure and started kicking people out of our tents, and we’re not getting enough people in our tents to win the election,” he said with applause.
Gallego’s stop on a key battlefield in Pennsylvania was first reported by Politico, and elicited speculation that he was interested in a future presidential bid. When asked in an interview with NBC News about his prospects for running for the White House, Gallego said, “Has it ever crossed my mind? Of course I am an elected official, that crossed my mind. Am I thinking about it now? Absolutely not.”
