Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., criticized Democratic strategist James Carville and defended his position on Israel in an interview with Politico. When asked about former President Trump’s lead over President Biden in multiple polls, Fetterman said he wasn’t concerned, unlike some in his party.
“But that doesn’t really matter,” Fetterman said of the polls in an interview published Wednesday. “There’s a whole lifetime in politics between now and next November as well. I’m not worried about that. And I’m very vocal about this, too, while there are Democrats that are being very critical about the president… I’ll use this [as] another opportunity to tell James Carville to shut the f— up.”
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., right, bashed Democratic strategist James Carville and defended his position on Israel in an interview with Politico. (HBO screenshot | Getty Images)
“Like I said,” Fetterman continued, “my man hasn’t been relevant since grunge was a thing. And I don’t know why he believes it’s helpful to say these kinds of things about an incredibly difficult circumstance with an incredibly strong and decent and excellent president. I’ll never understand that.”
Carville has argued in recent months that Democrats should be concerned about Biden’s waning popularity with voters and especially with the president’s age. At 81 years old, Biden is the oldest serving president in American history.
“The idea that this should not be aired out and should be discussed in hushed tones is ludicrous,” Carville has said of Biden’s poll numbers. “This needs to be discussed.”
In his conversation with Politico, Fetterman also responded to criticism from the left over the Israel-Hamas war.
In light of increased criticism from Democrats, Fetterman has stated that he no longer considers himself a “progressive,” especially when considering his support for Israel and a secure border. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
“I grieve, and it’s awful, the incredible civilian deaths and the suffering,” the Pennsylvania senator said of the war, which began after the Hamas terror attacks of Oct. 7. “It’s awful. War is hell, as they say.”
“But only one side has used civilians as human shields,” Fetterman continued. “Only one side has broken the ceasefires. Only one side will systematically rape, torture and mutilate Israeli women and girls in the most unspeakable, awful ways… Without destroying Hamas, there will be no enduring peace and a stable, two-state solution.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is also calling for the destruction of Hamas as a prerequisite to peace. In an op-ed published Monday in The Wall Street Journal, Netanyahu declared that “Hamas must be destroyed, Gaza must be demilitarized, and Palestinian society must be deradicalized” in order for there to be a lasting peace in the region.
Fetterman’s office and Carville did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Fox News’ Kristine Parks contributed to this report.
Jeffrey Clark is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. He has previously served as a speechwriter for a cabinet secretary and as a Fulbright teacher in South Korea. Jeffrey graduated from the University of Iowa in 2019 with a degree in English and History.
A.F. Branco Cartoon – Fetterman breaks with his party sounding more like Trump on the border crisis, saying we need to restrict the flow of migration coming through the south.
John Fetterman Stuns Supporters on Left by Declaring “I’m Not a Progressive”
Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) stunned supporters on the left with a pronouncement made in an interview with NBC News published Friday that “I’m not a progressive.”
Since being treated (apparently successfully) for clinical depression earlier this year following last year’s debilitating stroke, Fetterman has emerged as an articulate, moderate Democrat on issues like securing the border, supporting Israel in its war with Hamas and calling on corrupt Democrat Sen. Bob Menendez (NJ) to resign.“I’m not a progressive,” Fetterman told NBC News. “I just think I’m a Democrat that is very committed to choice and other things. But with Israel, I’m going to be on the right side of that. And immigration is something near and dear to me, and I think we do have to effectively address it as well.” Fetterman insisted he can be pro-immigration while also favoring policies to restrict the flow of migration to manageable levels, disagreeing with… READ MORE…
According to the Minneapolis crime dashboard, the City of Minneapolis has seen a significant spike in homicides in the month of December.
Since Dec. 1, 10 people have been murdered in Minneapolis. On Dec. 20 alone, the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) announced that one man was killed in a shooting, another man passed away from injuries sustained in a Dec. 16 shooting, and a suspicious death on Dec. 18 has now been ruled a homicide.The homicide rate has risen significantly in Minneapolis since 2019 when the city reported 48 homicides. In 2023, 70 homicides have occurred in the city so far. Last year, Minneapolis reported 77 homicides with the previous… READ MORE…
A.F. Branco has taken his two greatest passions (art and politics) and translated them into cartoons that have been popular all over the country in various news outlets, including NewsMax, Fox News, MSNBC, CBS, ABC, and “The Washington Post.” He has been recognized by such personalities as Rep. Devin Nunes, Dinesh D’Souza, James Woods, Chris Salcedo, Sarah Palin, Larry Elder, Lars Larson, Rush Limbaugh, and President Trump.
A Fox News Digital review has found Sen. John Fetterman’s office is doctoring his quotes to make him sound more coherent as questions linger about his health following a stroke.
Democratic Sen. John Fetterman suffered a stroke a year ago, and questions about his health have remained at the forefront as he has struggled through Senate hearings due to speaking and cognitive issues. The Pennsylvania senator’s office has repeatedly slammed critics for drawing attention to the issue and maintains he is fine outside of auditory processing problems. Meanwhile, they have quietly doctored his comments to make him sound more coherent as he grasps with recovery.
The issue exploded on Wednesday when Jeff Stein, a Washington Post economics reporter, admitted to amplifying a misquote Fetterman’s office provided to him, which had significantly altered Fetterman’s actual statements. Stein received backlash for tweeting that Fetterman had asked Silicon Valley Bank ex-CEO Greg Becker, “Shouldn’t you have a working requirement after we bail out your bank? Republicans seem to be more preoccupied with SNAP requirements for hungry people than protecting taxpayers that have to bail out these banks.”
Sen. John Fetterman’s office provided a heavily altered quote to a Washington Post reporter, which sparked a correction after he had viewed the senator’s actual comments. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
“The Republicans want to give a work requirement for SNAP,” Fetterman said. “You know, for a uh, uh, uh, a hungry family has to have these, this kind of penalties, or these some kinds of word — working uh, require — Shouldn’t you have a working requirement, after we sail your bank, billions of your bank? Because you seem we were preoccupied, uh when, then SNAP requirements for works, for hungry people, but not about protecting the tax, the tax papers, you know, that will bail them out of whatever does about a bank to crash it.”
While it is common for reporters to leave out filler words like “um” and “you know” when transcribing remarks, the extreme changes to Fetterman’s actual words in the quote Stein tweeted left onlookers stunned.
Stein scrubbed his initial tweet, confessing that he received a quote from Fetterman’s office but failed to verify it with the video. “That was my fault,” Stein wrote. “Though it captured his meaning, I deleted the tweet once some of the words in the quote were inaccurate.”
Yesterday I tweeted this quote, provided to me by the Senator’s office, without checking it against the video. That was my fault. Though it captured his meaning, I deleted the tweet since some of the words in the quote were inaccurate pic.twitter.com/jkDYYr2EU2
However, Fetterman’s office substantially cleaning up his quotes is not a one-time incident, according to a Fox News Digital review of remarks posted on his congressional website compared to the corresponding video of the hearings. The review found that Fetterman’s office has drastically altered his comments several times after he returned to Capitol Hill in mid-April following a weeks-long absence for depression.
WATCH: FETTERMAN’S COMMENTS VS. HIS OFFICE’S TRANSCRIPT
Fetterman chaired his first subcommittee hearing on April 19 since returning from his treatment. During the hearing, his opening statements drew online attention. Meanwhile, his office just posted a link to his closing remarks without transcription.
Sen. John Fetterman’s office has doctored several of his quotes posted on the congressional website, a Fox News Digital review has found. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
In the next hearing posted on the website, from April 26, the office quoted Fetterman as saying, “I’m really excited about Whole-Home Repairs. Here in Pennsylvania, one of my friends, Nikil Saval in the Senate, shepherded it. And he got linked up with the Republicans and they actually created one of the first kinds of a program like this in the nation.
“I come from a community here, in Braddock, Pennsylvania, where your home can go bad really quickly. And I’m really excited that we can take something like that, which is happening in Pennsylvania, and take it federal.”
However, according to the linked clip, Fetterman’s words differed significantly.
“I’m really excited by it, because here in Pennsylvania one of my friends really [inaudible] it, Nikil Saval, he was one of the literally — quite literally — as hard left as a politician I’m aware of — you know — certainly in the Senate,” Fetterman says. “Um, he really helped shepherd that. And he got linked up with the Republicans, and he actually created the first kind of a program like this in the nation, you know. And one of my colleague — Mr. Vance — talked about well if there’s a leak in the ceiling, what if you don’t have the money to fix that? What can happen to that, kinda things?’
“I come from a community down in Braddock, Pennsylvania, where there’s a lot of — your home can go bad quickly if you were having those kinds — so I’m a big — you know — I’m incredibly, I think I’m excited that could take from Pennsylvania and go federal.”
In another referenced hearing on the website, from May 11, the office wrote how Fetterman “grills a witness on weed legalization” at a banking hearing.
Sen. John Fetterman has dealt with auditory issues since suffering a stroke a year ago. (AP Photo/Rebecca Droke)
“We need to make it legal,” Fetterman’s website quoted him as saying. “I just believe it’s a freedom issue. I’ve given hundreds of pardons to people who have had their lives ruined by a B.S. charge.”
The quote came as Fetterman gave an example of people walking into liquor and wine stores in Pennsylvania.
“I don’t know anyone that walks in and is, ‘oh, my God I ended up with grain alcohol instead of this — you know — this bottle of red wine,'” Fetterman said. “People can understand that as well too. And it seems like it. And I don’t use marijuana. It can be made legal tomorrow in Pennsylvania, and I’m not going to. Just like I’m not going to use tobacco. And I’m just saying [inaudible] I support the Safe Act. But if we just made it legal, we don’t have the special Safe Beer Act or anything, we just need to make it legal in that. What I’m saying to you — and I’m going to save you the last minute here — is that I just believe it’s freedom. I believe it’s a freedom issue for people. And I believe it’s making the legality, and I’ve been giving hundreds of hundreds of people pardons for having their lives ruined for having a B.S. — excuse me — a B.S. charge.”
The third such example of the office altering his comments in recent weeks involved the one from Stein that drew condemnation. After spending over a month in a hospital for clinical depression treatment, Fetterman revealed his depression was “in full force” during his first few weeks in the Senate.
Fetterman suffered a stroke in May 2022 while campaigning for the Pennsylvania Senate race, resulting in auditory processing issues and depression. Fetterman described his only midterm debate against Dr. Mehmet Oz as like “trying to run a marathon with a broken ankle.” During the debate, Fetterman was granted the use of a closed captioning system so that he would be able to read the questions.
The senator’s office did not respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment on the altered comments by press time.
Fox News Digital’s David Rutz contributed to this report.
Joe Schoffstall is a politics producer/reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to Joe.Schoffstall@Fox.com and on Twitter: @joeschoffstall
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American Family Association
American Family Association (AFA), a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, was founded in 1977 by Donald E. Wildmon, who was the pastor of First United Methodist Church in Southaven, Mississippi, at the time. Since 1977, AFA has been on the frontlines of Ame
American Family Association
American Family Association (AFA), a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, was founded in 1977 by Donald E. Wildmon, who was the pastor of First United Methodist Church in Southaven, Mississippi, at the time. Since 1977, AFA has been on the frontlines of Ame
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American Family Association
American Family Association (AFA), a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, was founded in 1977 by Donald E. Wildmon, who was the pastor of First United Methodist Church in Southaven, Mississippi, at the time. Since 1977, AFA has been on the frontlines of Ame
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American Family Association
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