Sen. John Fetterman, Democrat of Pennsylvania, is planning to fulfill with President-elect Donald Trump, making him the first-known congressional Democrat to make the pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago since Trump’s reelection.
The upcoming assembly was first reported by CBS Information, which mentioned that Trump was the one who reached out and requested to fulfill. The date and time for the frenemies’ rendezvous haven’t been finalized, in line with the outlet.
In defending his assembly with the president-elect, Fetterman mentioned that he and Trump merely deliberate to have a “conversation.” He conceded, although, that hot-button points resembling Trump’s insane pledge to occupy Greenland may come up.
“I think that one, he’s the president, or he will be officially,” Fetterman mentioned. “And I think it’s pretty reasonable that if the president would like to have a conversation—or invite someone to have a conversation—to have it. And no one is my gatekeeper.”
Fetterman additional defended his determination to fulfill with Trump in a publish on X.
“I’m not just a Senator for Democrats—I’m a Senator for all Pennsylvanians. It’s my job to find common ground and deliver results for everybody,” he wrote. “And because nobody is my gatekeeper, I will meet with anyone to secure some wins, including President Trump.”
On the one hand, information of the gettogether shouldn’t be all that surprising, particularly contemplating that Fetterman has had no points being pleasant with Trump as of late.
Associated story: What the heck is occurring with John Fetterman?
The former progressive has already mentioned that he’ll again at the least two of Trump’s Cupboard picks: Sen. Marco Rubio as secretary of state and Rep. Elise Stefanik as U.N. ambassador. In keeping with CBS Information, Trump can be holding out hope that Fetterman will assist his controversial nominee for secretary of protection, Pete Hegseth.
Equally, not solely was Fetterman the first Democratic senator to affix Trump’s Reality Social platform, however he was additionally the primary Senate Democrat to co-sponsor the Laken Riley Act, which might permit the federal authorities to detain undocumented immigrants charged with nonviolent crimes. The invoice handed the Home earlier this week and is predicted to clear the Senate.
After the Home handed the measure, Fetterman joined Republican Sen. Katie Britt on Fox Information, suggesting that he doesn’t perceive why the anti-immigrant laws was contentious.
“We have hundreds and hundreds of thousands of migrants here illegally that have been convicted of crimes,” he mentioned. “Who wants to allow them to remain in our nation? I don’t know why anybody thinks it’s controversial that they all need to go.”
When Fetterman first embraced the invoice, fellow swing-state Democrats quickly adopted go well with, a mirrored image of the place voters stand on immigration-related points. A December Civiqs ballot for Every day Kos discovered that greater than half of registered voters (53%) assist Trump’s mass deportation plans.
Now that sufficient Democrats have backed the anti-immigrant invoice, it should get the 60 Senate votes wanted to maneuver ahead.
Fetterman hasn’t at all times been this pleasant towards the GOP. The self-described progressive has progressively inched to the proper since profitable his Senate seat in 2022. He claims that the “progressive” label deserted him, however that’s not solely true, as he’s taken a number of coverage positions—even throughout President Joe Biden’s tenure—that put him on the outs with progressives.
And he and Trump weren’t precisely besties till late both. In actual fact, Trump campaigned towards Fetterman’s Senate run and beforehand accused him—with out citing proof—of utilizing cocaine, meth, and different arduous medicine.
“Fetterman supports taxpayer-funded drug dens and the complete decriminalization of illegal drugs, including heroin, cocaine, crystal meth, and ultra-lethal fentanyl,” Trump mentioned throughout a rally for Fetterman’s opponent, Mehmet Oz, in September 2022. “By the way, he takes them himself.”
However apparently Fetterman doesn’t maintain grudges. He instructed CBS Information that he’s been “very clear” of his intention to fulfill with among the terrible and unqualified individuals who will likely be in cost the subsequent 4 years—Trump, clearly, amongst them.
