Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman (D) acknowledged on Saturday that former President Donald Trump has a unique connection with the state, which he believes only intensified after the attempted assassination in Butler earlier this year.
Fetterman’s comments came as part of an effort to draw Vice President Kamala Harris’ attention to the dynamics in his must-win state. “I trust her instincts, and she’s got a great team around her. She’s an amazing candidate overall,” Fetterman said, before comparing Harris’ candidacy to that of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. “Secretary Clinton was fantastic, perhaps the most supremely accomplished candidate I can remember. And see what happened.”
The senator pointed out Trump’s enduring appeal in Pennsylvania, stating, “Trump has created a special kind of hold. He has a special kind of place in Pennsylvania, and I think that only deepened after that first assassination attempt.”
The Daily Caller looked deeper into the senator’s provocative comments:
Trump survived the attempted assassination during a July 13 campaign rally in Butler County, Pennsylvania that left him slightly wounded, seriously injured two attendees and took the life of former volunteer fire chief Corey Comperatore. Fetterman said that he wasn’t going to “mansplain” the situation to Vice President Kamala Harris, but noted that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was a “fantastic” presidential candidate in 2016 though she ultimately lost the presidency to Trump.
“Trump has created a special kind of a hold … he’s remade the party and he has a special kind of place in Pennsylvania,” Fetterman told interviewer Jeffrey Goldberg. “And I think that only deepened after that first assassination attempt.”
Harris currently leads Trump by 1.0% in a head-to-head matchup in Pennsylvania, according to the RealClearPolling average of polls, with the lead expanding to 2.17% when other candidates, such as Green Party candidate Dr. Jill Stein, independent candidate Cornel West and Libertarian candidate Chase Oliver, are included.
Fetterman warned elsewhere in his interview with Goldberg that Clinton was leading Trump in Pennsylvania polling during the 2016 race, but lost the crucial swing state to Trump.
“Everybody thought that it was in the bag, but that’s not the energy and the other kinds of things that were really consistent with what I’m witnessing all across,” he warned. “And then, sadly, we saw what happened.”
The senator is known for occasionally breaking with his party’s progressive base, particularly on issues like Israel and immigration.
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