Fetterman talks shutdown, Schumer and his new book
Part explanation, part confession, part book tour.
Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman appeared on ABC’s “The View” on Tuesday morning to talk about his decision to vote to open the federal government, his stroke and fight with depression, and to promote his new book, “Unfettered.”
The former state lieutenant governor was one of eight Democrats who voted to allow the Senate to move forward on compromise legislation that would reopen the government. Their decision Sunday night was labeled a “betrayal” and “pathetic” by some of the most prominent voices in the Democratic Party.
Fetterman said that he effectively led the charge to reopen the government, saying “that’s just too risky and too much chaos” to keep it closed. “We need to be the party of order and logic,” he said. “I refuse to weaponize the SNAP benefits for 42 million Americans that rely on feeding themselves and their family. I refuse to not pay our military and all of the unions attached to all this.”
He criticized his party, saying it’s OK to agree to disagree on some core issues, but it was the wrong thing to shutdown the government.
“No one was getting anything,” he stated. “There was no SNAP, there were no healthcare extensions. It’s reasonable for Democrats to disagree on certain kinds of things, but I hope we could all agree that chaos is the wrong response.”
Fetterman was asked about his feelings toward Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) who has been roundly criticized by Democrats for caving after a successful election cycle.
“That’s not really my concern right now,” he said. “It’s not like a leadership situation. It is we are living in the backlash of the election. It’s been effectively a year now America decided to put us in the minority. And now, in terms of leadership, right now, you know what defines leadership for me? I think that’s order and logic and describing people exactly where we’re at. And now we were all energized by the election just last week. And now for me, I think it’s like, hey, let’s take the win on that.
“We have to be able to disagree on these things,” he continued. “That might be a bigger problem with our party that a committed Democrat from the most difficult and purple state in the country says, ‘I’m trying to call balls and strikes in the middle of this chaos.’”
Fetterman said that he does not need to be lectured by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) or Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) on the ramifications of his vote.
“They are representing very deep blue kinds of populations. This isn’t a political game. The reality is 42 million Americans now are not sure where their next meal is going to come from.”
The senior senator from the Keystone State also explained why he felt the need to write his memoir that covers everything from his journey into public service, his Senate race against Mehmet Oz, and his stroke and ongoing battle with depression.
“I think it’s an important conversation to have,” he said. “I know millions of Americans suffer from depression, and a lot of that part is very counterintuitive. After winning the biggest election in my cycle, that’s actually when depression really took control in my life. And then, then the really, really bad part of depression is, is the conversation you start to have with yourself, to take yourself out.
“I beg people. Stay in this game for those that are struggling with depression, regardless of what the kinds of resources and support you have in your life. And sharing that story is the gratitude that I have to be here. It’s like to pay it forward.”
Fetterman said he is “grateful to feel great.”
“Three years ago, I couldn’t get out of bed, and I started to have the darkest conversation anyone can have about about taking yourself out,” he said. “So for me, that’s the kind of the core message of that book, and I’ve actually dedicated the book to all those people that are having those kinds of struggles. And yes, I know it may not be a big political winner to talk about these things, but I do think it’s an important one to have, because a lot of people are suffering and may not able to talk about it.”
Steve Ulrich is the managing editor of PoliticsPA.
