Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) defended President Biden Saturday, showing confidence in Biden’s ability to win in November, as calls continue to mount for him to pass the torch following a rocky debate showing against former President Trump last month.
“Democrats, stop worrying about Joe Biden’s legacy and think about yours,” Fetterman wrote on social media platform X. ” Abandon a great president after a rough debate or stand with the only person who ever beat Trump’s [a–] into dust.”
“All must choose, but we’re headed for assured mutual destruction if we don’t cut the [sh–],” he added.
In an interview Friday on CNN’s “The Source with Kaitlan Collins,” the freshman senator acknowledged that while polls may be close, he said he believes Biden will ultimately win Pennsylvania — his home state. Fetterman added that Keystone State voters are “excited” for the incumbent.
“Not one single person has approached me as a Democrat and said, Joe Biden, we gotta get rid of Joe,” Fetterman told host Kaitlan Collins. “Regular people in Pennsylvania are excited for Joe Biden, and I witnessed that when I was in Philadelphia last week.
“Joe Biden is going to be okay in Pennsylvania, but it’s gonna be close,” he said.
Pennsylvania is one of several swing states that Biden must win to secure the presidency. The Hill/Decision Desk HQ’s polling index shows Trump with 48.7 percent support compared to the president’s 44.7 percent. Republicans are also attempting to flip Sen. Bob Casey’s (D-Pa.) seat in a hotly contested race.
Fetterman has spent much of the last two weeks criticizing Democrats who have called on Biden to stand down as the party’s nominee after the poor debate showing, where he stumbled over his words, lacked energy and sounded raspy.
Biden and his campaign have attempted to quell 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 lifelong Democrat and fundraiser for the Biden campaign, has also called on the president to stand down.
Fetterman pushed back on the calls in his interview with Collins.
“It’s maybe 18 or 19, maybe 20 Democrats in Congress have now asked Joe Biden to step down,” he said. “So that means well over 90 percent of Democrats in Congress right now is right there with Joe Biden, at this point.”
“So, I think that’s more meaningful to reflect what you know where we are as a party on that at this moment,” Fetterman added.
Instead, he continued, it “is more important” to focus on Trump and his alleged ties to Project 2025, a conservative agenda put forth by the Heritage Foundation that could fundamentally restructure the U.S.’s government, which Democrats have latched onto as a way to hit the former president and Republicans heading into November’s election.
Fetterman believes that both Biden and Casey will win reelection 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 just keep riding his back week in and week out.”
The Pennsylvania senator was referring to an op-ed from New York Times’ editorial board following the debate pressing 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, has maintained that he intends to finish the race and beat Trump in the fall, writing off the debate showing as a “bad episode.”