BUCKS COUNTY, Pennsylvania — Arizona Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego said Republicans are trying to pull John Fetterman to the right and argued Democrats should keep the Pennsylvania senator in their corner as he faces mounting questions over his health and shifting political persona.
“There needs to be space for Fetterman and for other senators in our caucus,” he said in an interview Saturday. “He still is a senator that fights for working-class people. We may not be 100 percent in agreement a lot of times in a lot of areas, but we don’t have to be.”
While some Democrats have distanced themselves from Fetterman, top Republicans have rallied around him in the wake of news reports that his current and former staffers are concerned about his mental and physical health. Several GOP senators, including Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Dave McCormick (R-Pa.), have come to Fetterman’s defense on social media.
“The radical left is smearing him with dishonest, vicious attacks because he’s pro-Israel and they only want reliable anti-Israel politicians,” Cotton said.
Asked if Republicans are trying to tug Fetterman to the GOP, Gallego said “of course.”
“In the Marines, we call these fuck-fuck games,” said Gallego, who traveled to Pennsylvania Saturday for a town hall.
Fetterman has said repeatedly that he will not change parties. But that isn’t stopping some conservatives from trying to push him to vote for their priorities — and perhaps more broadly come onto their side. The Club for Growth, a conservative group, is airing a TV ad in Pennsylvania this weekend praising Fetterman as “standing up for every working family in PA” and urging him to back President Donald Trump’s tax cuts.
Fetterman has voted against the budget blueprint laying the groundwork for a massive package that would include the extension of Trump’s first-term tax cuts, and he said on Friday he remains opposed to the efforts. Gallego expressed confidence that Fetterman would continue to hold that position, saying “I think the last thing he’ll do is harming working-class families by voting for the reconciliation bill.”
While Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has said Fetterman is an “all-star” who is “doing a good job,” several House Democrats in Fetterman’s state have offered more chilly responses, saying that the recent reporting raises questions and voters should read it. Fetterman has also drawn criticism from some on the left over his hardline position on Israel and recent meeting with Trump.
During Gallego’s town hall, Gallego repeatedly stressed the need for Democrats to maintain a big tent. He was asked by a member of the audience why he did a fundraiser with Marc Andreessen, a pro-Trump businessperson. Gallego said he runs “the largest venture capital firm in Arizona.”
“We got so pure that we started kicking people out of the tent — it ends up there aren’t enough people in the tent to win elections,” he said to applause.
Gallego’s stop in the critical battleground of Pennsylvania, first reported by POLITICO, has drawn speculation that he is interested in a future presidential bid. When asked in an NBC News interview about the prospect of running for the White House, Gallego said, “Has it ever crossed my mind? Fucking of course, I’m an elected official, it crosses my mind. Am I thinking about it right now? Absolutely not.”
