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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsFetterman: Democratic base becoming 'increasingly anti-American'
https://www.abc27.com/pennsylvania-politics/fetterman-democratic-base-becoming-increasingly-anti-american/(The Hill) Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) on Wednesday accused the Democratic base of becoming increasingly anti-American amid calls against U.S. military intervention in Venezuela, Iran and Cuba.
Reason Magazines Nick Gillespie asked Fetterman on the Reason Interview podcast about what the senator thinks of his politics now, having backed Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a democratic socialist, in 2016.
Well, I mean, you know, in 2016, it was much more about the minimum wage and some other very basic kinds of thing, Fetterman said. And now thats, thats just turned into much more standing with like Cuba, standing with Venezuela, standing with the Iranian regime and, and turn that into much more becoming more increasingly anti-American for me. So, my views really havent changed that much.
Fetterman said he has not seen a change in his political views, citing his support for marriage equality as an example. (continues)
Oooh look, another day ending in -y
UpInArms
(55,377 posts)a trumphumper
peggysue2
(12,597 posts)He's just looking for excuses now to cover his ass.
BH liberal
(165 posts)keeping track of which way the wind blows from here to the midterms.
.... go live in trDUMP's fuzzy wuzzy arm pit,... warm and cozy there.
(Manchin re-dux)
Cha
(320,606 posts)LudwigPastorius
(15,007 posts)Ocelot II
(131,242 posts)Enjoy your cushy job for now, John. You won't get to keep it much longer.
thomski64
(963 posts)..Just to vote against this prick..
wcmagumba
(6,641 posts)BannonsLiver
(20,859 posts)WarGamer
(18,863 posts)I certainly haven't seen anyone on the Left pumping Iranian, Russian or Hamas propaganda as a weapon against the current administration.
BannonsLiver
(20,859 posts)But he wasn't just talking about "some", he was talking about the party as a whole. I don't think that's accurate at all. And his ability to communicate is spotty at best. He can barely string together coherent sentences in interviews.
What I don't expect to see are alleged Democrats vomiting out neocon talking points sourced from a neocon think tank about how the Iranian people are going to "rise up" after they have been repeatedly bombed in their homes, and other utterly silly and moronic points/ideas that have failed to materialize over the last three months.
Journeyman
(15,486 posts)patphil
(9,230 posts)NewHendoLib
(61,912 posts)RandySF
(86,296 posts)MustLoveBeagles
(17,291 posts)Thank goodness 😂
ananda
(35,518 posts)which includes only rich white males.
Our America includes and cherishes everyone.
JBTaurus83
(1,678 posts)Means killing people all over the planet while our own citizens go without, call me anti-American. This guy is such a piece of shit.
I am RABIDLY Anti- the "America" we are in the days of tRump The Felon/Traitor. I OPPOSE stupid intervention in Venezuela, Cuba, Iran, Mexico, Greenland, and everywhere else The Felon/Traitor. wants to stick his little mushroom.
walkingman
(11,162 posts)LakeVermilion
(1,648 posts)Democrats arent pro Venezuela, pro Cuba or pro Iran. Instead, our country has procedures. The Executive Branch ignores those procedures and the Republicans refuse to enforce the procedures. Fetterman ignores the system.
Vinca
(54,335 posts)Those of us in PA are not happy.
travelingthrulife
(5,580 posts)JBTaurus83
(1,678 posts)But, hes had no shortage of voicemail and email from me. 🤬
bigtree
(94,672 posts)...what he's spouting here is simply fascism.
It's not a stroke, it's anti-American prattle.
Why in hell should Americans under active assault by their own government give a shit about directing energy and advocacy, not to mention the fucking money, to these military assaults against other countries?
Anti-Americanism wrapped in imperialistic militarism.
Who foisted this fool on our party?
FHRRK1
(135 posts)Make him flip.
And again, I dont want to hear he votes with Dems 90% of the time.
Heard all of those arguments too many times and every time it comes back to bite Dems in the ass.
Will require one more Seat to flip, but it will also show Dems and Independents that the Party is damn serious about turning things around. Tie his sloppy ass to MAGA and make him deal with the stench.
The worthless piece of shit cant be allowed to hold Dems hostage after the midterms.
Goonch
(5,593 posts)
doc03
(39,184 posts)As a progressive. Talk about a scam.
sop
(19,330 posts)I'm tired of reading about his latest stupidity. Just seeing his stupid face, wearing his stupid shorts and his stupid sweatshirt, pisses me off. I've had enough of Fetterman. .
I think this slob is just plain stupid. He damn sure is not a democrat
sop
(19,330 posts)seat would vote with their party 100% of the time. There are a handful of Democrats in the Senate who cross over and don't always vote with their own party, but at least they have the good sense to keep their mouths shut, and they aren't constantly sucking up to Trump so publicly.
greatauntoftriplets
(179,353 posts)Or take a look at what's happening in this country. We're against drumpf's version of America. It's cruel and based on grift, hatred, and wars. They're not trying to make our lives better, they're just filling their own pockets while taking from ours.
kimbutgar
(27,558 posts)He got elected by Democrats and now shits on them.
rurallib
(64,834 posts)While I know he had the stroke and it look like his change can be traced back to that, I can't help but wonder if the Trumpers saw a guy who could be corrupted and decided to see if they could buy him?
EnergizedLib
(3,154 posts)You can be against dictatorial regimes and against wars at the same time.
JBTaurus83
(1,678 posts)Would anyone call Iraq a shining success story? Afghanistan? Vietnam was able to get rid of us and develop on their own.
bucolic_frolic
(55,840 posts)BootinUp
(51,645 posts)The MAGA base.
Celerity
(54,888 posts)

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/john-fetterman-struggle-mental-health-clinical-depression.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20250503072039/https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/john-fetterman-struggle-mental-health-clinical-depression.html
https://archive.ph/0bKU7

When John Fetterman was released from Walter Reed hospital in March 2023, Adam Jentleson, then his chief of staff, was proud of his boss for seeking help for what the senators office and his doctor had said was a case of clinical depression. His six weeks of inpatient care had been the latest medical setback for the Pennsylvania Democrat, who had had a stroke mere months before being elected to the U.S. Senate in 2022, nearly derailing his campaign against Republican Mehmet Oz. But a year after his release from the hospital, Fettermans behavior had so alarmed Jentleson that he resigned his position. In May 2024, he wrote an urgent letter to David Williamson, the medical director of the traumatic-brain-injury and neuropsychiatry unit at Walter Reed, who had overseen Fettermans care at the hospital. I think John is on a bad trajectory and Im really worried about him, the email began. If things didnt change, Jentleson continued, he was concerned Fetterman wont be with us for much longer.
His 1,600-word email came with the subject line concerns, and it contained a list of them, from the seemingly mundane (He eats fast food multiple times a day) to the scary (We do not know if he is taking his meds and his behavior frequently suggests he is not). We often see the kind of warning signs we discussed, Jentleson wrote. Conspiratorial thinking; megalomania (for example, he claims to be the most knowledgeable source on Israel and Gaza around but his sources are just what he reads in the news he declines most briefings and never reads memos); high highs and low lows; long, rambling, repetitive and self centered monologues; lying in ways that are painfully, awkwardly obvious to everyone in the room.
Fetterman was, according to Jentleson, avoiding the regular checkups advised by his doctors. He was preoccupied with the social-media platform X, which hed previously admitted had been a major accelerant of his depression. He drove his car so recklessly, Jentleson said, that staff refused to ride with him. He had also bought a gun. He says he has a biometric safe and takes all the necessary precautions, and living where he does I understand the desire for personal protection, Jentleson wrote, referring to Fettermans rough-and-tumble town of Braddock, Pennsylvania. But this is one of the things you said to flag, so I am flagging. Another red flag, Jentleson added: Every person who was supposed to help him stay on his recovery plan has been pushed out. Fetterman was isolated, had damaged personal relationships, and was shedding staff. The turmoil in his office continued over the following year. Since winning election in 2022, he has lost his closest advisers, including three of his top spokespeople, his legislative director, and Jentleson. His circle of trust has shrunk, and people I spoke with made it clear that they expect more staffers to depart.
When Fetterman first caught the attention of the national press, journalists wrote about him like he was a benevolent ogre crossed with a folk hero. More specifically, thats how I wrote about him. This is the tale of Big John Fetterman, the giant who lives in an abandoned car dealership beside a steel mill, my 2018 profile in the Washington Post began. Hes six-eight, arms covered in ink, head as bald as a wrecking ball. At the time, Fetterman was mayor of Braddock, which looked a lot like the left-behind corners of the country that had flocked to Donald Trump. He was running for lieutenant governor of the state, and it was easy to see his appeal: He was a bit introverted and curmudgeonly, but funny, smart, and passionate about the fate of communities like Braddock, tattooing the date of each murder that occurred in the town during his tenure on his arm. Endorsed by Bernie Sanders, but also sympathetic to fracking and other positions that cut against the progressive grain, he cruised to victory that year.
snip
Takket
(23,803 posts)for the fact that after the election we're going to hold the senate 51-49, and he's going to flip to give the senate back to the rethugs........
it is going to happen
Ive been saying, if it comes down that close, dont pop the champagne.
Celerity
(54,888 posts)kacekwl
(9,265 posts)words of wisdom ?
AZProgressive
(29,982 posts)I deployed to serve in Iraq but I have disagreements with the foreign policy establishment going back to maybe Reagan. Doesn't mean that those that disagree are anti-American and if troops fight for "freedom" than Americans have the freedom to dissent from the President or any foreign policy choice.
surfered
(14,301 posts)and increasingly anti-Fetterman.
Ilikepurple
(794 posts)It seems like hes running point on the propaganda designed to dissuade possible GOP and Independent defectors. Its another branch that dehumanizes Democratic Party members from the inside. Now some can say even Democratic senators will admit the Party has lost its mind and can no longer be trusted to rationalize either not voting or voting for the grownup and American GOP candidate. It also helps normalize all the illegal or norm-breaking actions of this administration. Every percentage point matters, especially with the wiggly swing voters.
unblock
(56,262 posts)But branding the democratic base as "anti-American" is straight up Republican propaganda, full stop.
There's no good reason for a democratic politician to say that, ever.
Aviation Pro
(15,768 posts)Go shove your hoodie up your compromised ass.
Azathoth1
(5 posts)because Fetterman isn't capable of grasping the implications.
Most guys who pull this, like Joe Machin, are trying to play a cynical long game, but it seems that Fetterman genuinely isn't capable of that kind of intrigue and instead has no meaningful social interactions beyond scrolling social media and maybe watching some segments on Fox.
He's either a textbook example of personality change resulting from being disabled by a near death event, or else an example of the effects of relying on the Internet for social connection after being disabled by a near death event.
Johonny
(26,618 posts)Trump talks about. What has Trump done to make any poor person's life better. Bomb a girl's school? Does he know how many poor people in the world died due to Trump? Does he give a fuck?
What has Trump done to improve people's lives in Cuba, Venezuela or Iran? He doesn't name it, because Trump hasn't done shit.
oasis
(53,986 posts)choie
(7,003 posts)Yeah, in other words we're against the United States invading countries and starting a war without the Congress' having their say. That must be why we're "anti-American".
marble falls
(72,543 posts)... I hope he recovers his senses.
purr-rat beauty
(1,453 posts)And hope even less
D_Master81
(2,685 posts)Literally every week I have to read something about Fetterman crapping on us as slobbers up to the felon and the right for reasons known only to himself.
RedWhiteBlueIsRacist
(2,262 posts)I thought the guy was legit at first, but he seems a real dipshit lately.
David__77
(24,860 posts)no_hypocrisy
(55,384 posts)or Monsey, NY, or Orange County, NY. But he represents the state of Pennsylvania. The state nicknamed "Pennsyltucky" due to its majority ruby-red demographic. Pittsburgh and Philly are blue. The rest is red. My father grew up in one of the small towns in the middle. And the locals are not fond of Jews, and thereby, Israel.
BlueTsunami2018
(5,076 posts)He might as well be Sean Hannity.
ImNotGod
(1,217 posts)0rganism
(25,715 posts)He'll change parties in an instant to keep Democrats from taking the senate, if it makes the difference. Count on it.
TVguyCards
(14 posts)That's a big Libertarian magazine & I mean actual Libertarian, not Rand Paul Fauxbertarian.
I wonder if they went off on Fetterman for being a war monger? Libertarians are very anti-war but something tells me that didn't happen.
Fetterman really changed a lot after the stroke, didn't he? It's sad to see how much he's changed and his empathy, conscious, and compassion are really in the dumpster. I don't wish a stroke on anyone as I lost my dad to a stroke rather recently. It was awful and I am still grieving over it.
hamsterjill
(17,760 posts)I don't know if it's health related or whether he's hoping to ride Trump's coat tails to wealth and re-election, but this dude has lost it.
As part of that "Democratic base" that he's snipping about, I take complete offense. I am not anti-American. I am anti-Trump.
QueerDuck
(1,942 posts)I get that feeling about certain politicians every so often, and my instincts are almost always correct.
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