Democrats are trying to figure out how to approach the incoming Trump administration.
The resistance playbook of his first term has gone out the window.
And John Fetterman made one confession about Donald Trump that drove Democrats crazy.
John Fetterman roots for Donald Trump’s success
Democrats are in disarray after the election.
The party has no clear leader with President Joe Biden leaving office or a coherent strategy on how to confront the incoming Trump administration.
U.S. Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) is a politician with an eye on his 2028 re-election campaign in a swing state.
He told ABC News host Jonathan Karl that he hoped President-elect Donald Trump was successful during an appearance on This Week.
Karl asked him if he was worried about a Trump Presidency.
“Well, it’s like I’ve been warning people like, you got to chill out, you know, like the constant, you know, freak out,” Fetterman said. “It’s not helpful. So, you know, pack a lunch, pace yourself, because he hasn’t even taken office yet.”
Fetterman was asked if he thought that Trump had the potential to be a “good” or “successful” President.
“I hope, I hope, because I’m not rooting against him,” Fetterman replied. “If you’re rooting against the President, you are rooting against the nation. And, and I’m not ever going to be where I want a President to fail.”
“So, country first. I know that’s, it’s become maybe like a cliche, but, but it happens to be truth,” Fetterman added.
The opposing Trump at every turn attitude that Democrats had during his first term isn’t being recreated for his second.
Fetterman and some Democrats have simply made their peace that he’s going to be President.
The playbook used against Trump by Democrats and their media allies is going to look different this go around.
Fetterman takes flak about playing nice with Donald Trump
The Pennsylvania lawmaker represents a state that Trump won twice and barely lost in the 2020 Election.
He’s smart enough to realize that needlessly antagonizing Trump voters isn’t a winning ticket when he’s up for re-election in 2028.
Fetterman is still a down-the-line vote for Democrats; he’s just trying to create some bipartisan optics for his re-election campaign.
Karl asked if he was Trump’s favorite Democrat in the Senate.
“I don’t know what that really means, because you’ll never, you never know, but, I’m just a regular Democrat, I’m not leaving my party,” Fetterman responded.
He noted the hostility from some corners of the Democrat Party over his meeting with Trump’s Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth.
“I’m not sure why some of the things that I’ve chosen to do, like meeting with nominees and having views that might be more aligned with some of the Republican side,” Fetterman explained. “I think that’s part of politics that’s pretty much consisting with just doing the job and representing the kind of state that we have in Pennsylvania.”
John Fetterman is going to get under the skin of his fellow Democrats by treating Donald Trump like a normal politician.
