-
Senator John Fetterman jumped to Biden’s defense after his poor debate performance last week.
-
“I refuse to join the Democratic vultures on Biden’s shoulder after the debate,” he wrote on X.
-
Fetterman, who has experienced poor debate performance himself, slammed pundits who said he would lose in 2022.
Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman has a message for Democrats who want President Joe Biden to step aside after his poor debate performance on Thursday: “Chill.”
For Fetterman, the doubts and outright panic from some Democrats towards Biden are reminiscent of the criticism he received after a difficult Senate debate in 2022 against his then opponent, the Republican candidate and famous surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz.
In a series of comments following Biden’s debate with former President Donald Trump, Fetterman announced his disagreement with members of his party who sought alternatives to the president.
“I refuse to join the Democratic vultures on Biden’s shoulder after the debate,” the senator wrote on X. “No one knows better than me that a rough debate is not the sum of the person and his or her record .”
Biden now faces one of the biggest challenges of his political career. He continues his campaign, trying to convince his supporters that he is fit for office while resisting pressure from some Democrats who want him to make way for a new, younger candidate.
Fetterman said that after his 2022 debate, some pundits predicted he would lose to Oz. The senator was keen to point out that not only had he won, but his Senate race that year was the only one in the country where the seat switched parties.
“What happened?” Fetterman wrote. “The only seat that can be flipped and won by a historic margin (+5). Chill the fuck out.”
During an appearance on “Fox News Sunday,” the senator again compared his situation to Biden’s.
“We had a tough debate and we still managed to win,” he told host Shannon Bream. “One debate is not a career.”
Fetterman’s debate took place in October 2022, following a stroke he suffered in May of that year. The then-candidate’s speech patterns were affected by the stroke, and Republicans seized on the opportunity to make his health an issue for the general election, questioning whether he had the chops to serve in the Senate. Some Democrats also questioned at the time why Fetterman agreed to debate Oz at all, concerned that his performance had boosted the GOP’s fortunes.
After Fetterman began his term in the Senate last year, he took some time off to attend Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where he was treated for depression. He has spoken openly about the experience and the “downward spiral” he went through after winning the Senate election.
Read the original article on Business Insider
