Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) defended President Biden on Saturday, showing confidence in Biden’s ability to win in November as calls continue to mount for him to pass the torch after a difficult debate against the former president Trump last month.
“Democrats, stop worrying about Joe Biden’s legacy and think about yours,” Fetterman he wrote on social media platform [a–] in powder.”
“Everyone must choose, but we will head towards mutually assured destruction if we do not cut the [sh–],” he added.
In an interview Friday on CNN’s “The Source with Kaitlan Collins,” the rookie senator acknowledged that while the polls may be close, he said he believes Biden will ultimately win Pennsylvania — his home state. Fetterman added that voters in the Keystone State are “enthusiastic” about the incumbent.
“Not a single person has approached me as a Democrat and said, Joe Biden, we need to get rid of Joe,” Fetterman told host Kaitlan Collins. “Ordinary people in Pennsylvania are excited about Joe Biden, and I witnessed that when I was in Philadelphia last week.
“Joe Biden will do well in Pennsylvania, but it will be close,” he said.
Pennsylvania is one of several swing states that Biden must win to secure the presidency. The Hill/Decision Desk headquarters poll shows Trump with 48.7% support, compared to the president’s 44.7%. Republicans are also trying to flip Sen. Bob Casey’s (D-Pa.) seat in a tight race.
Fetterman has spent much of the past two weeks criticizing Democrats who called on Biden to step down as the party’s nominee after the weak debate show, where he stumbled over his words, lacked energy and sounded hoarse.
Biden and his campaign have tried to calm concerns with live interviews and rallies since the June 27 debate, but at least 19 congressional Democrats have urged the incumbent to pass the torch. Actor George Clooney, a longtime Democrat and fundraiser for Biden’s campaign, also called for the president to resign.
Fetterman rejected the calls in his interview with Collins.
“It’s maybe 18 or 19, maybe 20 Democrats in Congress have already called on Joe Biden to resign,” he said. “So that means that well over 90 percent of the Democrats in Congress right now are behind Joe Biden, right now. “
“So I think it’s more meaningful to reflect what you know about where we are as a party right now,” Fetterman added.
Instead, he continued, “it is more important” to focus on Trump and his alleged ties to Project 2025, a conservative agenda put forward by the Heritage Foundation that could fundamentally restructure the US government, which Democrats have latched onto as a way to target the former president and Republicans heading into the November elections.
Fetterman believes Biden and Casey will be re-elected, but said Democrats must unite behind Biden.
“I want to be clear, Joe Biden can beat Trump,” he said. “But Joe Biden can’t beat Trump and the New York Times and this whole apparatus of other people and consultants and all these people continue to enjoy their week off week in and week out.”
The Pennsylvania senator was referring to an op-ed by the New York Times editorial board after the debate that pressured Biden to withdraw his candidacy. The Times renewed that call in a subsequent post earlier this month, saying the president was “embarrassing himself.”
Biden, however, stated that he intends to finish the race and beat Trump in the fall, calling the debate a “bad episode.”
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
