Opinion by Matt Roan
Throughout the 2022 campaign, U.S. Sen. John Fetterman included as a keynote in his stump speech that he would always be the 51st vote for causes important to Democrats (his election afforded Democrats a narrow majority with the two Independents in the Senate caucusing with the Democrats).
Fast forward to 2024 and things have changed. Fetterman is now a leader among Democratic senators when it comes to capitulating to Donald Trump and the Republican Party that he controls.
It started with Trump’s cabinet appointments. Sen. Fetterman has voted for more of Trump’s objectively unqualified nominees than nearly any other Democratic member of the body.
Among the most egregious yes votes from Sen. Fetterman has been for Attorney General Pam Bondi, who, in a norms-busting piece of political theater, pledged fealty to President Trump during a blatantly political speech recently at the Department of Justice Headquarters where the resident went on a tirade calling out his enemies and declaring journalism by outlets including CNN and MSNBC to be “illegal”.
As President Trump was incoherently rambling anti-constitutional and fascist rhetoric to the nation’s top law enforcement officials, Sen. Fetterman was on the floor of the U.S. Senate delivering a vote in favor of a Republican government funding bill that will enable the continued decimation of federal agencies at the hands of South African Billionaire Elon Musk. Sen. Fetterman has refused to hold town hall meetings in Pennsylvania to hear from his constituents. In fact, the only public event where Fetterman will face the people of the Commonwealth is a joint appearance with Republican Sen. Dave McCormick and his wife Dina Powell, a former Trump administration official, to promote a children’s book written by the Republican power couple.
Enough is enough. Fetterman no longer represents the interests of those who elected him, he seems disinterested in serving in his important position, and his actions in the Senate are actively harming Pennsylvanians. As a Democratic County Party leader, who worked tirelessly to elect Fetterman in 2022, who stood by him through the hardship of his recovery from stroke and depression, his complete abandonment of the core values of our Party has become untenable.
I call for his immediate resignation from the U.S. Senate.
Matt Roan is chair of the Cumberland County Democratic Party.
Why does this always happen to so called "progressive" candidates? First Sinema and now this guy.
This guy wasn't progressive. He's a well funded liar from a wealthy family. He's never had PA interest in mind.
He was also running against Dr. Oz, an also terrible option.
always found his choice of attire a bit strange considering he's a lawyer, he's definitely used to show up to work under business dress code
people who have to show up to work under business dress code often dread it and ditch it whenever possible
that would be me, i switched from a job that requires to wear a tie, to one that doesn't, my neck is finally free, but show up with a hoodie and bermuda shorts? cmon
I’ve seen developers show up in way less than that. To the point where they had to tell them they had to wash their clothes. Amazing devs, though.
I don’t trust people who wear suits anyway, and someone in khakis and a polo probably doesn’t know what they’re doing.
He's trying to be cool and relatable. But it shows how little he cares.
Cook to business casual felt like a treat. Always want what's different lol
It appeals to the average Joe worker.
They're liars. They always felt this way. Like how Elon pretended to be left wing for awhile because he knew it would help sell cars.
Donald Trump was once a democrat supporter, I shit you not we live in that same timeline.
I honestly couldn't tell you anything about Kyrsten Sinema other than she campaigned in her primary on ID politics. Literally the only reason I heard people voting for her was "bisexual woman!!!" because the actual progressive choice was a a guy. I reluctantly voted for her in the general but I had a bad feeling about her and her Karen haircut.
The DNC has been hiding their corporate and centrist candidates behind "progressive" ID politics for a long time.
It doesn’t. Fetterman was never progressive to begin with, and there are plenty of progressive candidates who have stuck to their principles in office.
In fact he has never maintained he was a progressive. He did say his interests often align with those of the progressives. I got taken in by him. And donated some money to him. Mos Def will not do so in the future.
Always? You cited one.
Money is enough to turn any progressive to a liberal.
This is untrue, and a deeply cynical view of the world.