Democrat Senator Pushes Back On ‘Rightward Shift’ Accusations, Defends Trump Meeting
A Democrat Senator defended his recent meeting with President Trump after his recent bipartisan efforts have sparked criticism.
Sen.ย John Fettermanย (D-Pa.) said on Monday that President Trump was โkindโ and โcordialโ at a Mar-a-Lago meeting that sparked scrutiny
โOverall, it was a positive experience. I mean, he was kind, he was cordial. It wasnโt in any kind of theater. It wasnโt trying to get your picture taken to kind of put something out on social media. It was just, really, a conversation. We actually spoke for over an hour,โ Fetterman told โThe View.โ
Fetterman metย with Trump at his Palm Beach resort earlier this month, ahead of the inauguration, and Trump left with praise for the Pennsylvania senator.ย
โHeโs a commonsense person. Heโs not liberal or conservative. Heโs just a commonsense person, which is beautiful,โ Trump said in an interview with the Washington Examiner.
Fettermanโs open-minded approach to Trump and Capitol Hill Republicans has stirred speculation about the first-term senatorโs motives, including questions about whether he was preparing to change parties.
During Mondayโs episode ofย The View, Sunny Hostin ran back a clip of former police officerย Michael Fanone, who defended the Capitol on Jan. 6, on MSNBC this week. Fanone name-dropped Fetterman, having publicly endorsed his run for office, as a lawmaker who โran for the hillsโ and abandoned law enforcement when Trump pardoned rioters.
Hostin added that critics โon the leftโ have called out the senator for undergoing a โrightward shift.โ
โWhat do you say to those who are now, in a sense, questioning your commitment to the Democratic Party?โ she asked.
Fetterman began by refuting the idea he had changed and underscoring his disgust at the Jan. 6 pardons.
First, I just want to say I am so sorry for what happened to that officer. I mean, heโs had a heart attack. His life โ he almost died. I mean, I have had a stroke, same thing. Absolute empathy, and just appalled for witnessing what happened on January 6th, and I absolutely would reject pardoning people that were involved in that.
As for rightward? Thatโs justโฆ that just happens not to be true. I have been on record too saying I am not going to become a Republican, you know? Although maybe some people might be happy on one side, but I would make a pretty terrible Republican because, you know, pro-choice, pro-really strong immigration, pro-LGBTQ, you know, just pretty, likeโฆ I donโt think I would be a good fit.
So Iโm not going to change my party, and if I am going to do, Iโm going to show up. Iโll give you the exclusive. I can announce. So I canโt keep chasing down every last thing thatโs online because they just happen not to be true. Just look at my votes. Look at the thingsโฆ I havenโt changed in a way.















