John Fetterman Sends His Fellow Democrats a Reality Check After Meeting with Pete Hegseth and Kash Patel
The Democratic Party has long since degenerated into a cult united primarily by members’ unhinged hatred of President-elect Donald Trump.
Recently, however, a few signs have emerged suggesting that some Democrats have grown tired of their party’s anti-Trump obsession.
In a Sunday interview with ABC’s Jonathan Karl on “This Week,” Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania urged fellow Democrats to “chill out” and even expressed “no regrets” at having met with Trump’s Cabinet picks, including Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth and FBI Director nominee Kash Patel.
“I have met with all of them so far,” Fetterman said. “And the ones that we haven’t, they’re on the schedule back in January.”
Karl then asked if Fetterman regarded Hegseth as qualified, to which the senator replied, “We’re gonna learn more.”
Fetterman’s full comments, however, suggested that Democrats cannot rely on him to vote against Hegseth.
“The president picked these people,” the Pennsylvania senator said. “Not gonna be my first choice, second choice, third choice, but that’s democracy.”
“And, to me, it would be distressing if he is confirmed, if the Democrats are gonna turn our back collectively to the leader of Defense. That’s astonishing, and that’s dangerous,” he added.
Fetterman expressed similar openness following his meeting with Patel. In that meeting, for instance, the two men talked about immigration-related stories in their respective families.
“I have learned things, and I have heard things, and I have no regrets,” the senator said.
Indeed, the entire tone of the interview suggested, at minimum, an eagerness to avoid appearances of anti-Trump hostility.
“I’ve been warning people, like, ‘You gotta chill out,'” Fetterman said of the Trump Derangement Syndrome that has plagued many in his party since 2016.
The senator also pledged to root for Trump, whom he called a “singular political talent.”
Readers may watch the entire interview in the YouTube video below. Fetterman’s comments on Hegseth and Patel began around the 6:30 mark.
Cynics, of course, might speculate that Fetterman simply sees the political writing on the wall.
“The support’s astonishing,” he said of voters’ enthusiasm for Trump in “red” Pennsylvania counties. According to the Associated Press, in the 2024 election Trump won the swing state by more than 120,000 votes.
Thus, a Pennsylvania senator calculating his own political future might want to get on Trump’s good side.
On the other hand, to view things less cynically, senators absolutely should consider their constituents’ views. In that sense, self-interest and proper public service should dovetail. And on the issue of Trump’s Cabinet picks, at least, it appears that they have done so in Fetterman.
Moreover, the Pennsylvania senator reflects a segment inside the Democratic Party that has grown tired of fighting Trump. Opposing the president-elect where necessary is one thing, but the over-the-top anti-Trump rhetoric has left them exhausted.
That fact alone suggests that even Trump’s most anti-establishment nominees might win unexpected support from a small number of dissident Democrats.
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