Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), who survived his own disastrous debate performance ahead of the 2022 election, told fellow Democrats to “chill the f‑‑‑ out” after media outlets reported Democrats are panicking over President Biden’s weak showing at Thursday’s debate against former President Trump.
“I refuse to join the Democratic vultures on Biden’s shoulder after the debate. No one knows more than me that a rough debate is not the sum total of the person and their record,” Fetterman posted on the social platform X.
The Pennsylvania senator posted his comments along with a Politico headline declaring, “Panicked Dems start looking for alternatives to Biden.”
Fetterman reminded his followers that pundits and “polling geniuses” declared he would lose his Senate race against celebrity Mehmet Oz in 2022 after he struggled to put together coherent sentences at their only debate after suffering a stroke.
“Morning-after thermonuclear beat downs from my race from the debate and polling geniuses like 538 predicted I’d lose by 2. And what happened? The only seat to flip and won by a historic margin (+5),” Fetterman posted.
“Chill the f‑‑‑ out,” he added.
The Washington Post’s analysis in October 2022 summed up Fetterman’s only debate against Oz as “a rough night.”
The Post noted Fetterman started the debate by saying “Good night” instead of “Good evening” and had trouble completing his thoughts and often used the wrong words.
The polling average compiled by the political handicapping site FiveThirtyEight showed Oz pulling ahead of Fetterman after the debate.
Fetterman, however, won the Pennsylvania Senate race, earning 51.2 percent of the vote to Oz’s 46.3 percent.
Following Biden’s Thursday night’s debate with former Trump, Democrats questioned whether the party could or should replace the president at the top of the ticket. Biden’s voice was raspy, something his campaign blamed on a cold, and he struggled with his words.
Pennsylvania is one of three Democratic-leaning states in the Midwest that Biden needs to win to secure reelection, along with Michigan and Wisconsin, assuming he doesn’t pull off more unlikely upsets in other regions.