Biden has a staunch defender in John Fetterman, who has faced similar criticism

As President Joe Biden campaigned in Roxborough on Sunday, as part of a damage control effort to save his faltering re-election campaign, he stopped mid-sentence and pointed at Sen. John Fetterman.

“By the way, I have John Fetterman,” Biden said. “I don’t need anything else.”

Fetterman, who hit the road with Biden last weekend, has been a staunch defender of the president on social media, on television news shows and in the hallways of the Capitol.

“There’s only one person in the country who’s ever kicked Trump’s ass in an election, and that’s your president,” Fetterman said in Roxborough. “He’s our president. He’s your president. He’s my president.”

Fetterman’s political brand has always been direct and bullish. But his support for Biden can also be personal: Two years ago, when Fetterman had a stroke, he faced similar scrutiny in the heat of the campaign and campaigned on a comeback slogan that echoed Biden’s strategy.

The Pennsylvania Democrat’s outspoken defense of Biden comes at a time when the president needs support within his party. While Biden has remained adamant that he will remain his party’s nominee, congressional Democrats have been snail-paced to collectively support him, fearing he would defeat former President Donald Trump or serve another four years.

A handful of House Democrats and one senator have called on Biden to drop out of the race, and many are reportedly considering what to do given their concerns. Pennsylvania’s delegation appears divided, with several representatives, such as U.S. Reps. Brendan Boyle and Madeleine Dean, appearing alongside Biden in recent days, and some others facing tough reelection battles indicating they still have reservations.

Senator Bob Casey, arguably Biden’s closest ally in the Pennsylvania delegation, has said he thinks Biden should remain the candidate and appeared with him last weekend. With his own reelection campaign underway, Casey has been more of a serene supporter.

Asked Tuesday in Washington if he had become more skeptical of Biden’s abilities, Casey said: “How skeptical could I be if I was with him?” Asked if he fully supported Biden, Casey said: “Yes.”

Fetterman defended Biden more forcefully and delivered the type of offbeat tidbits he is known for:

“I’m going to suggest that maybe we should encourage Joe Biden to have sex with a porn star, or maybe he could be consumed with revenge and say crazy things and have a plan for 2025,” Fetterman told Punchbowl News, referring to Trump’s bribery conviction in New York and Project 2025, a set of conservative proposals for a second Trump presidency that have come under scrutiny.

Comeback campaigns

Fetterman’s support for Biden may also stem from knowing what it’s like to have a bad debate that results in criticism of your health and fitness for office.

Fetterman built his 2022 campaign as a tough-looking, offbeat politician who could connect with voters across Pennsylvania. Six months after suffering a potentially fatal pre-election stroke, he found himself in a debate against renowned physician Mehmet Oz. The effects of the stroke significantly affected his ability to express himself, and the debate went poorly, raising questions, mostly from Republicans, about his fitness to serve.

Fetterman said the comments that followed that debate — withering criticism on social media and in the news — contributed to a severe depression for which he was treated for months afterward.

Fetterman won that election handily, a point he made to show that Biden’s failed debate on June 27th doesn’t necessarily mean a bad election outcome (though he also said he thinks the election will be close).

“I know what it’s like to have a tough debate,” Fetterman said in Roxborough. “And I stand here, you know, as your senator.”

While the circumstances are very different — Fetterman is 54, Biden is 81 — some questions about Biden’s fitness for office mirror the concerns Fetterman faced in 2022.

Fetterman has also received calls, like Biden, asking him to disclose evidence of his mental fitness in 2022. The campaign released the doctors’ notes and emphasized that speech impediments, in his case auditory processing problems, do not necessarily indicate cognitive impairment.

Fetterman is still recovering from a stroke, and questions about his fitness are a distant memory as Biden continues to navigate a pivotal moment in the campaign.

The narrative that both men wanted to present after their debates is also similar.

After his stroke, Fetterman shamed Oz for making fun of a stroke survivor and used the moment to reach out to other Pennsylvanians struggling with health issues, portraying himself as a resilient outsider who “got knocked down but got back up.”

Biden, at his first post-debate rally, told supporters in Raleigh, North Carolina:

“Like millions of Americans, I know that when you fall, you get back up.”