Since joining the upper chamber last year, Sen. John Fetterman has been one of President Joe Biden’s strongest political allies.
And after Biden’s disastrous debate performance — which has led to a chorus of congressional Democrats asking the president to step aside as the party’s presidential nominee — the Pennsylvania lawmaker has doubled down in his support of the embattled leader.
But so far, many Senate Democrats appear highly skeptical of Biden’s chances in November, despite only one Democratic senator publicly calling on the President to forgo his reelection bid.
During a Senate Democratic lunch on Thursday — where Biden’s top campaign aides spoke about his polling and a path forward — Fetterman voiced his frustration at the pessimism in the room regarding the president’s chances, Politico reported.
“You have legacies, too,” Fetterman told the senators who were present in the room, according to the outlet. (Some senators had already left the meeting before Fetterman rose to speak, Politico reported.)
The first-term lawmaker also questioned senators about what their legacies would look like if they turned on Biden over a bad debate, according to the report.
When Fetterman asked his fellow Democrats if they’d want to see Biden continue in the race, only a handful of people in the room — four in total — joined him in agreement, according to Politico.
The lawmakers who stood with Fetterman included Sens. Chris Coons of Delaware and Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, per the report.
Democratic senators have largely remained mum on Biden’s chances in public despite their long-standing support of the president’s legislative priorities, but their reported views behind closed doors reveal the hesitancy that still permeates the caucus.
For weeks, Fetterman has looked to dunk on Democrats who have gone against Biden, arguing that their lack of support only serves to embolden former President Donald Trump’s campaign.
“I refuse to join the Democratic vultures on Biden’s shoulder after the debate,” the senator wrote on X after the June debate. “No one knows more than me that a rough debate is not the sum total of the person and their record.”
Fetterman — who faced criticism from some Democrats after his own debate performance in the high-stakes 2022 Senate race which featured then-GOP candidate and celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz — brushed aside naysayers that year.
And he has done the same for Biden — who has insisted that he’s not leaving the presidential race — ahead of the general election.
During a June appearance on “Fox News Sunday,” Fetterman compared his campaign situation with that of the president.
“We had a difficult debate, and yet we still managed to go on to win,” he said at the time. “One debate is not a career.”
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