John Fetterman: The Rogue Democrat Who Broke Party Ranks

**David Friedberg** (0:00)
John Fetterman, thank you for joining us here on the All-In Podcast for this All-In interview. Very excited to have you here today. I know you're in the middle of voting today. Sounds like the Save America Act might be starting its debate on the floor. Is that correct?

**John Fetterman** (0:14)
I don't know. I think what I've heard recently that they don't have the votes, but we will find. But I don't have any special insight. I mean, it's going to be very close. I don't think if they do hit it, I don't see it more beyond 51
But I'm not really sure. It's a shame that they didn't make it more about just ID to vote. They turned it into other things, that they turned it into kind of a Christmas tree, and they're hanging all these things on it. But now that's where we are, but we'll know. And having someone follow that, too, he's going to let me know, in fact, because I'm really interested to see how it goes. Because if they do, then that's going to turn into a really a spectacle about what a talking filibuster is.

**David Friedberg** (1:04)
Yeah. Well, let's see what happens. I mean, it's a pretty dramatic week ahead. Let me just start. I want to zoom out a little bit and talk about how you make policy decisions. And I want to just start with party. You ran as a progressive in 2016, lost. You beat Dr. Oz in 22, and now you have a 72% approval rating from Pennsylvania Republicans, and only 22% from Democrats.
Are you a Republican or are you a Democrat, Senator? And kind of what's the way that you think about your party affiliation?

**John Fetterman** (1:34)
Well, I actually I think the more realistic, the realistic numbers was like earlier in the morning console. And that had me at basically 50-50 with them. And I was I was in the 60s for with Republicans without a doubt, without a doubt that I am more popular with with Republicans. And I am mystified by that. I mean, I'm honored to have support from any Pennsylvania. But what I will say that, you know, I've just going to follow what I think is the moral clarity. And now in my very first race back in 2015 over a decade ago, what used to be a progressive is definitely not what a progressive started to turn into and what it became. And even in my race in 21, 22, I was announcing, I am no longer, I'm just a Democrat. I'm not a progressive. And now there's been that evolution away from like those core principles that really weren't controversial. And now I've isolated myself by following and standing and proud to be unapologetically supporting Israel.
And now, if you've seen that that poll came out yesterday, that the standing and the Democratic Party continues to deteriorate, I've put that out on my social media. And I said, I don't follow, I don't care about the polls. You know, there's a moral clarity here, and that should be where the rest of us should be. And now it's been really easy for me to lean in on it. And that I created the only Democrat that's very supportive about Epic Fury. And I'm also the only Democrat that refuses to shut down the Department of Homeland Security. Yes, as a Democrat, we would like to make some reforms on ICE. But what I'm unwilling to do is shut it down. And after that horrific, that attack in Michigan, where he was looking to kill 150 toddlers, you know, and now there's more and more kinds of these, these events, why would you vote to shut our government down? And the cybersecurity agency, you know, that must be incredible for the Chinese and the Iranians though, that we've shut that government down. So that's that, you know, I, my core values haven't changed. If anything's changed, that's been kind of the core, what, what's required to be a Democrat. And I'm going to follow what I think is true. What is the country over party, whether that's the right side of history.

**David Friedberg** (4:24)
What do you think the Democratic Party used to stand for? What does it stand for today? And what do you think it should stand for?

**John Fetterman** (4:31)
I honestly, I don't know. But what I will say, as I would refer to to your listeners, is like, listen to what the people that are running for the Senate as Democrats, watch what they're saying and doing. And that's becoming more and more anti-Israel, openly hostile to to Israel. And now that becomes part of the litmus, litmus purity test to, I'm not going to take any of their money. I'm going to denounce that. And I was the only Democrat that's absolutely Netanyahu who's just done the right thing to break that access there. Hezbollah and Hamas are now attacking also Houthis as well. So, I mean, so do you know where what Democrats stand for? See who's running for the Senate. And now Plantner, the Nazi tattoo guy on top of being an avowed communist. And now said incredibly offensive things about women and sexual assault. And now refers to rural people as stupid and racist. And now, is that what Democrats want? I guess we'll see that. But you see in all these different things, also in Michigan, too, a guy that really, as far as I know, has refused to condemn Hamas. And he led the, you know, no, the no, what was the no committed. It's like, forget what that stupid thing was called. But it was like, you know, no vote, no vote for uncommitted, uncommitted. Yeah, uncommitted. But, you know, we're not going to vote for Kamala Harris. And now they helped deliver Trump for Michigan.