Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pennsylvania) said he believes former President Trump holds a “special” place among Pennsylvania voters, and that this was further strengthened by the gunman who opened fire at a Trump rally in the state in July.
“Trump has built a special platform. He's rebuilt the party and he has a special place in Pennsylvania,” Fetterman told an audience at the Atlantic Festival on Thursday, “and I think that's only intensified since the first assassination attempt.”
The upcoming election is expected to be close, especially in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania, where recent polls have shown VP Harris tied or leading Trump, but Fetterman warned that there is real support for Trump there.
That support has endured through the former president's impeachment, two assassination attempts and legal battles, but Fetterman asked, “what's left?”
“I also want people to understand, it's not science, but there is an energy on the ground in Pennsylvania, there is a certain anger, people are very engaged and strong,” Fetterman said. “Trump is going to be strong, and … we have to respect that.”
Fetterman was asked by The Atlantic's editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg what advice he would give to Harris about securing a win in Pennsylvania as Election Day approaches.
“I'm not going to sit down with a sitting vice president and say, 'No, no, no, it's better,'” he said. “I certainly wouldn't. [to] She is the vice president and she is very competent.”
He said he has advised her to get involved in election campaigns to spread the Democratic message.
“I go out there in the room and … that's my advice,” he said. “So I live by my own advice. I don't just sit there and say, 'You should, you should, you should.'
Fetterman said he plans to campaign next week in Butler, Pennsylvania, the site of the first assassination attempt at a Trump rally, when a bullet grazed the former president's ear and injured two rally attendees, leaving one dead.
While Fetterman praised Harris's debate performance and ability to beat Trump, he pointed out that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton outperformed Trump in a 2016 debate but lost the election.
Fetterman argued that given all the changes and major events that have occurred during this election cycle, “we are living in a perpetual October surprise. There's not much else that can happen.”
