The Countdown To John Fetterman's MAGA Heel Turn Continues

Cocktails at Butterworth's

Part-time Senator John Fetterman from Pennsylvania was spotted Monday night having dinner at Butterworth’s restaurant in Capitol Hill. The hot new spot is where The New York Times says “Trump acolytes go to see and be seen,” and Fetterman was seen with former Trump strategist and convicted felon Steve Bannon.

Butterworth’s is apparently like Star Wars’ Mos Eisley bar in clientele but with a more upscale spin. The menu items include raw oysters, smoked salmon toast, and chocolate pot de creme — not quite what you’d imagine appealing to faux-populist Bannon and hoodie-wearing Fetterman, who once mocked his Senate opponent for using the word “crudité.” It’s as if they’re just big frauds.

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Why Would Republicans Defend John Fetterman?

We should clarify that Fetterman didn’t actually dine with Bannon, who is a living appetite suppressant. Politico reports that Fetterman’s actual dinner date was Matt Boyle, the Washington bureau chief for Breitbart. Fetterman’s spokesperson claims, “The run-in with Bannon was inadvertent and impromptu.” However, there are other places in Washington, D.C., to enjoy lamb tartare without risking an encounter with Steve Bannon.

This has renewed speculation that Fetterman might formally abandon the Democratic Party. However, Bannon is not the recruitment manager for the GOP, and as a sitting senator, Fetterman could easily have a direct line to Trump himself or at least Vice President JD Vance.

I remain skeptical about any future that Fetterman could have as a Republican. Although former Democrats Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are now born-again MAGA, they serve in the Cabinet and didn’t have to actually win a Republican primary. I doubt Fetterman would leave the Senate for a role in the Trump White House because he’d have to occasionally show up at work. Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro would pick his replacement if Fetterman resigns, so Republicans wouldn’t gain much.

Fetterman has become something even worse than a disappointment. He’s now a source of ceaseless “I told you sos!” from people who didn’t support him in the 2022 Senate primary. Chris Evans (“notcapnamerica”) posted on social media, “Black [people] tried to warn [y’all] about John Fetterman after he chased down a Black jogger with a shotgun — but [y’all] were too preoccupied with him being up Bernie Sanders’ ass to see the forest for the trees.”

I did not vote for Bernie Sanders in 2016 or 2020, and I have miraculously managed to not spend my every waking moment blaming him for everything that’s gone wrong in the world. It’s especially odd to see Sanders become Schrödinger’s Socialist, who can’t win a presidential nomination but is somehow responsible for Fetterman winning the Senate primary in very-purple Pennsylvania.

John Fetterman’s Annoying But He’s No Republican

Fetterman endorsed Sanders for president in 2016 and 2020, though he claims now that he’s not a progressive. I do think the progressives who feel that Fetterman betrayed them didn’t pay enough attention during his actual Senate campaign. (See, there I go pleasing no one!) In fact, State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta was the true progressive in the race, and he performed accordingly. Mainstream Democrats were very vocal online about their preference for Rep. Conor Lamb, but the actual Democratic establishment didn’t rush to help Lamb.

To me, Fetterman always gave off Sinema vibes, with one major exception — he openly supported Joe Biden and claimed he would serve as his rock-solid 51st vote in the Senate. This was a big deal for Democrats who believed that filibuster-obsessed Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema were unreliable Democrats who hadn’t sufficiently supported Biden and the party’s agenda. That was a major part of Fetterman’s appeal, far more so than any previous support for Sanders. (I also think Manchin’s past support for Lamb was a political anchor in 2022.)

Fetterman was already Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor and had gained national prominence during the 2020 election when he defended the state against Donald Trump’s Big Lies about election fraud. If you have a passing knowledge of politics, you’d concede that Fetterman’s frequent TV appearances (especially prior to his stroke) did more for his candidacy than some online progressives. (Watch below.)

Democrats who were excited about Fetterman in 2022 appreciated that he seemed like a fighter with a quick wit. They weren’t reflexively supporting him because he was a “Bernie bro.” Arguably, the reverse was true — Democrats who loathed Sanders looked for reasons to oppose Fetterman beyond basic policy differences.

Evans argues that “Black people tried to warn [y’all] about Fetterman” but he’s doing that mainstream liberal thing where “Black people” are defined as “highly engaged partisan Democrats on social media who have at least one photo of themselves with Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris.” Most Black Democrats didn’t care about the shotgun incident. We know this because they voted for Fetterman in significant numbers in the 2022 Democratic primary.

Christopher Miyares, the guy on the other end of Fetterman’s shotgun, claimed Fetterman “lied about everything” but still hoped he “gets to be senator.” (He’s welcome to that opinion. I’ve yet to endorse anyone who’s pulled a gun on me.)

I’d noted at the time that no matter what you thought about Fetterman’s shotgun antics, a shocking number of people had done something similar during the pandemic — yes, even in liberal cities like Portland, Oregon, where car thefts had spiked. Some progressives might scoff at property theft, but unless you’re pretty well off, losing your car is a major financial blow. Friends of mine had neighbors who chased away car thieves and disturbed prowlers back in 2021. (I hate guns and obviously don’t endorse or recommend this.)

John Fetterman Compares Himself To That Great American Hero The Joker

Evans even frames the shotgun incident from 2013 as if Fetterman hunted Black joggers for sport, like a racist Elmer Fudd. As the Times reported, Fetterman heard shots fired outside his home in Braddock, a town just 11 miles outside Pittsburgh, and spotted Miyares running, which joggers are known to do. Miyares was reportedly dressed in Black and wearing a face mask. According to the police report, “Fetterman continued to yell and state that he knows this male was shooting.” Fetterman, then the town’s mayor, pursued the jogger in his truck (he caught him, as Miyares wasn’t the Flash).

Donald Trump Jr. and other Republicans who Fetterman might bump into at Butterworth’s hammered him with the shotgun incident during the general election. The Oz campaign ran some last minute ads on BET, ESPN, and the Oprah Winfrey Network. They also criticized his past statements in favor of police reform. (Watch below.)

This narrative that “Black people warned” Pennsylvania Democrats about Fetterman but progressives were just too in love with Sanders ignores that Fetterman decisively won the Democratic primary 58 to 23 percent. Fetterman won every county, including the ones with significant Black populations.

Anyway, people who like saying, “I told you so!” are tedious, especially when they insist on needlessly making it a racial issue. John Fetterman is a fully multicultural, United Colors of Benetton mistake.