Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman on Friday, in a wide-ranging interview with Fox News, he stated that in 2028 he would welcome a main challenger to the title.
I’m talking to Martha MacCallum on “The Story,” Fetterman also praised New York’s mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani to meet with President Donald Trumphe explained why he voted to halt the federal government shutdown and discussed his ability to hold on to “the states that decide who the next president is.”
When asked about statement from the Pennsylvania Working Families Party that it would support a primary challenge to Fetterman in 2028, he hasn’t backed down from that prospect.
“I hope so because I guarantee that no matter who they put, they will make me a reasonable guy who will work with both sides and find a way to Pennsylvania,” Fetterman said.
“And now that’s an absolute lie. The vote to keep the government open was a vote to ensure that 42 million Americans would receive SNAP. And now we’re going to pay all these people, like the military and the Capitol Police, and all these people now too,” he added. “So now, if they want to one-up me… but my point is that I’ve sided with common sense and I’ve always put our country before party. And I think most people now realize that shutting down our government was wrong.”
Shoshanna Israelthe group’s political director for the Mid-Atlantic region, sharply criticized Fetterman’s decision to cross party lines, saying he “sold out” working Pennsylvanians and failed to fight for progressive priorities.
The former lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania defeated another Keystone State Senator Dave McCormick and WFP candidate Representative Malcolm Kenyatta in the 2022 Democratic primary before taking down the TV doctor Mehmet Oz in the general election.
Fetterman joined seven other Democratic legislators in responding to criticism about his vote to reopen the federal government.
“I stood on the side of common sense and will always put our country above party,” he said, “and I think most people now realize that shutting down our government was wrong.
Fetterman also said he felt he had common ground with Mamdani, whom he credited with meeting the president.
“We both agree that it is reasonable to meet with the president if he offers to sit down and talk to him,” he said. “And I think the difference is that I haven’t received a lot of criticism from Mandami for this, but I have received a lot. And I think it’s perfectly reasonable to sit down and have that conversation. And that’s what I did in January.”
“As a senator representing one of the largest states in the country, this is a normal conversation,” he said. “Then I don’t understand why part of my party says you’re not allowed to talk to him or do things like that. That’s crazy.”
Fetterman remained MacCallum, as did he and another Michigan Democrat Governor Gretchen Whitmer “brought with them states that decide who will be the next president… these are states that maintain integrity and remind us that there are both sides.”
MacCallum also asked whether Fetterman could take away votes from working-class voters who defected to Trump if he were to run for president.
“The kinds of values and the kinds of perspectives that a state like Pennsylvania represents… I really think I fit in very well,” he said. “In increasingly polarized times, I just want to be normal and use common sense.”
