Friends are hard to come by in Capitol Hill. You never know who is going to betray you.
And now a U.S. Senator cussed out a former ally in this fiery interview.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) stated unequivocally that he does not believe senior Democratic strategist James Carville’s assessment of President Joe Biden’s chances of winning the 2024 presidential race.
When asked about Biden’s chances in Pennsylvania, Fetterman called Carville out specifically in an interview with POLITICO published on Wednesday.
“All I do know is that the president will win Pennsylvania. And I do believe if he wins Pennsylvania, and I believe he will, he will be a second-term president,” Fetterman said, before pivoting to address Carville’s assessment of the situation.
“There’s a whole lifetime in politics between now and next November as well. I’m not worried about that. And I’m very vocal about this, too, while there are Democrats that are being very critical about the president,” Fetterman continued.
“I’ll use this [as] another opportunity to tell James Carville to shut the f*** up. Like I said, my man hasn’t been relevant since grunge was a thing. And I don’t know why he believes it’s helpful to say these kinds of things about an incredibly difficult circumstance with an incredibly strong and decent and excellent president. I’ll never understand that.”
Carville responded by informing the source that other senators, some of whom had called him to counsel or campaign for them, had not “gotten the memo yet” about his insignificance.
“I’m glad he’s feeling better,” Carville said of Fetterman.
During a December 13 interview with CNN’s Kasie Hunt, the longtime Democratic strategist gave a considerably more pessimistic assessment, claiming that if the election had been held that day, Biden would almost certainly lose.
“It sounds to me like you think if the election were held today, Biden would lose,” Hunt prompted, and Carville agreed with her assessment.
“Me and everybody else,” he said.
Carville has been sounding the alarm on that front for months, telling comedian Bill Maher in late September, “Let’s assume the election was November the third of this year and the candidates are Joe Biden, the Democrat, Donald Trump, the Republican, Joe Manchin, and Larry Hogan, No Labels, and Cornel West. Trump would be a betting favorite.”
On the other hand, Fetterman has voiced support for Biden, saying, “I really am not worried about that because he is my guy. And he is going to be the Democrats’ guy, and I’m proud to campaign with him.”
Though he’s peddling the partyline of support for Biden, Fetterman has been an outspoken critic of some of the worst on the progressive Left.
When asked if he was surprised by the backlash he received for supporting Israel, Fetterman stated:
I mean, of course I expected that there will always be a diversity of opinions, and that as long as things go that the Democratic caucus might splinter more. … I would be the last man standing to be absolutely there on the Israeli side on this with no conditions.
I grieve, and it’s awful the incredible civilian deaths and the suffering. It’s awful. War is hell, as they say. But only one side has used civilians as human shields. Only one side has broken the cease-fires. Only one side will systematically r*pe, torture and mutilate Israeli women and girls in the most unspeakable, awful ways. … Without destroying Hamas, there will be no enduring peace and a stable, two-state solution.
While he still is a Leftist, Fetterman has surprised both the Republicans and Democrats with some of his policy choices.
Stay tuned to the DC Daily Journal.
