John Fetterman has become the most unpredictable Democrat in Congress.
He marches to the beat of his own drummer.
And John Fetterman said four words about Pete Hegseth that left Democrats seeing red.
John Fetterman is the first Democrat to meet with Pete Hegseth
The backlash from the Washington, D.C. Swamp is fierce against President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, former Fox & Friends Weekend host Pete Hegseth.
Journalists think they can recycle the playbook they used against former Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) to force him to withdraw as Trump’s Attorney General nominee.
Hegseth has faced relentless attacks based on anonymous sources that have turned his confirmation fight into an all-out brawl.
The former Fox News star has been meeting with U.S. Senators individually to make the case for his nomination.
U.S. Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) became the first Democrat to meet with Hegseth.
Fetterman told CNN chief congressional correspondent Manu Raju that he was “just doing my job” before the meeting.
“Senator, thanks for talking to me,” Raju said. “You’re going to become the first Democrat to meet with Pete Hegseth later today. What do you want to hear from him?”
Fetterman told Raju that he and Hegseth were going to have an off-the-record conversation.
“It’s just going to be — hey, I’m going to meet the guy,” Fetterman said. “And honestly, I’ve never, I’ve never heard of him before he was nominated. So it’s an opportunity to just have a discussion on a lot of kinds of issues. And I suspect there’s some things we might agree on, in terms of military, whether it’s China or Israel, and maybe disagree, some perhaps on the Ukraine.”
He dismissed the idea that Democrats should be afraid to talk to one of Trump’s cabinet nominees.
“I think it’s an opportunity to have a conversation,” Fetterman explained. “I don’t really — I’m not sure why it would be controversial to anybody, if he’s the individual who could potentially be the next Secretary of Defense.”
Fetterman pointed out he was the Senator for everyone in Pennsylvania, not just Democrats.
John Fetterman dismisses left-wing critics over the Hegseth meeting
Raju told him that critics on the left-wing of the Democrat Party weren’t happy that he was meeting with Hegseth.
“I’m not sure why it would be controversial to anybody,” Fetterman said. “Those individuals can vent or rant on Twitter, but I’m here to have conversations and I think I’m just doing my job.”
Fetterman stressed that he was treating Trump’s nominees with an open mind.
“All I am saying is that Democrats or other people can freak out over anyone that was nominated, and I am not that guy, and I’m open to have a conversation,” Fetterman explained.
Raju asked him about the bogus allegations of sexual assault and excessive drinking against Hegseth.
“I know there hasn’t been any formal charges, criminal-wise,” Fetterman replied. “It’s all one of the things that I’m sure might come up on the conversation today, but I am aware there are some allegations of course.”
John Fetterman is one of the few Democrats smart enough to realize he represents a swing state so it’s good optics to appear bipartisan.
