On Thursday, Pennsylvania’s John Fetterman turned the primary Senate Democrat to meet with Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s problematic decide to guide the Division of Protection. Oddly, Fetterman hasn’t dominated out supporting Hegseth, whose personal mom as soon as wrote him an offended electronic mail calling him an abuser of ladies. (She now says she doesn’t maintain the identical view of her son.)
“He could theoretically become the head of the Defense Department,” Fetterman instructed Politico in explaining his logic. “I’ve discovered in my time in D.C. that that’s important. And, ‘Are you having a conversation with someone?’ I don’t know why that’s shocking.”
Fetterman additionally stated he’s conscious of “some” allegations towards Hegseth. These embrace, however usually are not restricted to, Hegseth allegedly raping a girl in 2017—Hegseth stated the intercourse was consensual—and allegedly ingesting on the job. However that hasn’t stopped the Pennsylvania senator from being open to becoming a member of Republicans in confirming the Fox Information host.
Fetterman stated he’s undecided why it’d be “controversial” to fulfill with Hegseth—and even urged the 2 may discover frequent floor on some points. And by itself, assembly with the possible subsequent protection secretary will not be an odd factor. However that’s not the one eyebrow-raising motion Fetterman has taken just lately.
On Wednesday, Fetterman apparently turned the primary Democratic senator to affix Reality Social, Trump’s social media platform. And in his debut submit, he made the shocking name to pardon Trump in his New York hush cash case.
Fetterman additionally stated he was a “hard YES” on confirming Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York as the subsequent ambassador to the United Nations.
And Stefanik isn’t the primary Trump Cupboard decide that Fetterman has voiced his help for. In November, he stated he would vote to substantiate Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida as the subsequent secretary of state.
As soon as a self-described progressive, Fetterman has pivoted to the fitting since successful his 2022 Senate election. And backing Trump’s Cupboard picks isn’t the primary time the senator has discovered himself on the outs with the progressive motion. He’s one among many Democrats to make stringently pro-Israel statements throughout its ongoing warfare in Gaza. In that, he discovered allies within the Democratic Social gathering, akin to New York Rep. Ritchie Torres.
Nonetheless, Fetterman is making the case that he hasn’t deserted progressivism—however that the motion dumped him.
“I didn’t leave the label, it left me on that,” Fetterman stated in a June interview with comic Invoice Maher.
However a evaluation of his historical past with the label makes his change seem extra cynical in nature. In spite of everything, the senator fortunately embraced the label for years and courted the endorsement of unbiased Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, when Fetterman efficiently ran to be Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor. Now, although, Fetterman appears extra eager to taunt progressivism than to embrace it.
It’s a handy scapegoat for Fetterman accountable the left for his shift to the fitting. It retains his title within the limelight whereas making him appear to be some type of courageous truth-teller who isn’t afraid to face as much as his personal get together.
Nonetheless, he may discover it laborious to have it each methods, with each events, particularly throughout a time when center-left and institution Democrats are coming underneath fireplace for ceaselessly dropping elections and main coverage fights.
At the least for now, Fetterman hasn’t made clear what his finish aim is in preventing his personal get together’s pursuits. However within the short-term, he’s apparently making an attempt to fill the void of the non-Republican rabble-rouser now that unbiased Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema are leaving.
