The Daily Populous Monday January 13rd, 2025 morning edition
Authored by inquirer.com and submitted by plz-let-me-in

U.S. Sen. John Fetterman speaks at the January Penn Ag Democrats Luncheon at the Pennsylvania Farm Show in Harrisburg. The state's rightward tilt toward Donald Trump was likely a wake-up call for Fetterman, who has been shifting to the right since getting elected in 2022, writes the Editorial Board. Read more

Has Sen. John Fetterman gone MAGA?

Or is Pennsylvania’s now-senior senator just trying to stay in power?

Either way, Fetterman’s pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago this weekend is just the latest attempt to cozy up to Donald Trump. His conversion is even more head-spinning given his strong backing for President Joe Biden last summer when other Democrats were calling for him to step down as the nominee.

But soon after the election, Fetterman voiced support for several of Trump’s cabinet nominees, including Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) for secretary of state. He posed for a picture — holding two thumbs up — with Rep. Elise Stefanik (R., N.Y.), who was nominated as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

Fetterman also met with Fox News host Pete Hegseth, Trump’s scandal-plagued pick for defense secretary. Despite Hegseth lacking any meaningful qualifications to run the sprawling U.S. Department of Defense, Fetterman said he may support him.

Last month, Fetterman became the first Democratic senator to join Truth Social, Trump’s social media site that is a breeding ground for hate speech and conspiracy theories. Fetterman’s first post on the site was to call for Trump to be pardoned for his criminal conviction in the New York hush-money case.

» READ MORE: The Senate must reject Trump’s dangerous, unqualified cabinet nominees | Editorial

Last week, Fetterman was also the first Democratic senator to cosponsor a Republican-backed bill that would require federal authorities to detain undocumented immigrants for nonviolent crimes. The largely political measure is named after Laken Riley, a student killed in Georgia last year by a migrant who was arrested for shoplifting but not detained.

Other Democratic senators in the swing states of Arizona, Michigan, and Georgia subsequently signed on to the bill. Therein lies a likely explanation for Fetterman playing footsie with Trump.

Pennsylvania is also a swing state that backed Biden in 2020 but shifted to Trump in 2024. Sen. Bob Casey, a three-term incumbent with deep Pennsylvania roots, lost to a Republican hedge fund executive who spent most of his adult life living outside the commonwealth.

The rightward tilt was likely a wake-up call for Fetterman, who has been shifting to the right since getting elected in 2022.

Fetterman used to call himself a progressive Democrat and even hired some former aides who worked for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.). He supported legalizing marijuana, wealth taxes, a $15-an-hour federal minimum wage, and Medicare for All.

But a year after being elected, Fetterman said, “I’m not a progressive, I’m just a regular Democrat.” He further rankled progressive supporters who wanted him to speak out about the humanitarian crisis still unfolding in Gaza.

Fetterman has also become a favorite on Fox News, where he is a frequent guest. During a recent appearance, Fetterman compared Trump’s harebrained idea to buy Greenland with the Louisiana Purchase.

Sorry, senator, but this is nothing like the Louisiana Purchase, and Trump is nothing like Thomas Jefferson.

Fetterman argues that his openness to working across the aisle shows he is a senator for all Pennsylvanians, but his normalization of Trump is the epitome of a sellout. He, like many corporate leaders and millions of voters, either has a short memory or is delusional.

» READ MORE: Immigration reform, not crackdowns, would help America thrive | Editorial

It wasn’t long ago, when Fetterman was running for the Senate, that Trump called him a “radical” and a “Marxist” and made fun of him for wearing hooded sweatshirts.

During Trump’s previous term, he was impeached twice, mismanaged the pandemic causing thousands of needless deaths, incited an insurrection, and tried to overthrow a free and fair election. He spewed thousands of lies, fueled hate, and sowed deep division.

After leaving office, Trump was criminally indicted four times, including for stealing classified documents. He was also convicted, making him the first felon who will sit in the Oval Office.

Trump’s plans for the coming term are even more dangerous and harmful. He plans to conduct mass deportations, impose tariffs that will raise prices and spur inflation, extend deep tax cuts that will increase the deficit by nearly $5 trillion, loosen environmental regulations that will fuel worsening climate change, and undermine the rule of law.

Trump has yet to take office and is already stirring chaos with threats to annex Canada, use military force to acquire Greenland and the Panama Canal, and rename the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.”

Fetterman’s response to anxious Democrats is to “chill out.”

Apparently, Fetterman is OK with enabling Trump as long as he gets to hold onto his Senate seat. He would do well to remember the old adage: “If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don’t have integrity, nothing else matters.”

Morgn_Ladimore on January 12nd, 2025 at 16:23 UTC »

“I’m not a progressive, I just identified myself as a regular Democrat,” Fetterman said, talking to CNN’s Dana Bash.

This was after running very clearly as a progressive and using that label liberally during his campaign. I reckon in half a year or so we'll get a quote about how he's not really a Democrat, just a "realist", and then he'll make the full switch to Republican because the Democrats have become too extreme or whatever.

Swagtagonist on January 12nd, 2025 at 15:20 UTC »

This guy betrayed all of the people who pushed so hard to support him. All the people who put in time, donated money, etc. Sincerely, fuck this guy. Duplicitous coward.

Traditional_Key_763 on January 12nd, 2025 at 15:12 UTC »

its a questionable strategy because he will be primaried in what should be a huge anti-trump year