{"id":42548,"date":"2023-11-05T19:56:10","date_gmt":"2023-11-05T19:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/politics\/sen-john-fetterman-hits-the-trail-in-iowa-as-he-finds-his-footing-again\/"},"modified":"2023-11-05T19:56:11","modified_gmt":"2023-11-05T19:56:11","slug":"sen-john-fetterman-hits-the-trail-in-iowa-as-he-finds-his-footing-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/?p=42548","title":{"rendered":"Sen. John Fetterman hits the trail in Iowa as he finds his footing\u00a0again"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n As he sought to rally his fellow Democrats in the Midwest,\u00a0Sen. John Fetterman on Saturday\u00a0brought his Pennsylvania brashness to the state that bills itself as \u201cIowa nice\u201d and\u00a0roasted\u00a0the 2024 Republican presidential field.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWere you devastated, devastated when Mike Pence dropped out?\u201d Fetterman said at the\u00a0annual Iowa Democrats\u2019 Liberty and Justice Celebration.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cCan we all join for a moment of silence for that?\u201d he added, bowing his head in mock solemness.\n <\/p>\n

\n He ribbed at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, saying the GOP candidate has \u201cmanaged to make laughing awkward\u201d before doing an impression of DeSantis\u2019 wide laugh.\n <\/p>\n

\n Despite joking that he was only in Iowa to try the breakfast pizza, Fetterman \u2013 in his first major out-of-state speech since winning his competitive Senate race last fall\u00a0\u2013brought\u00a0his brash style to the Hawkeye State to rally Iowa Democrats around Joe Biden\u2019s\u00a0bid for\u00a0a second term. It comes months after the Pennsylvania Democrat was hospitalized for depression in a challenging start to his Senate career.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe have to come together to elect Joe Biden,\u201d he told the crowd of Democratic elected and party officials who are the minority in the GOP-led state.\n <\/p>\n

\n He argued that Democrats who want to \u201ccriticize and go after Joe Biden, our president \u2013 just go ahead and write a check\u201d to former President Donald Trump.\n <\/p>\n

\n Fetterman\u00a0was sworn into the chamber in January still dealing with lingering auditory processing issues following his stroke last year in the middle of a tough campaign. In February, after struggling with substantial weight loss and a loss of appetite,\u00a0he entered inpatient treatment for depression.\n <\/p>\n

\n On Saturday as the Iowa dinner\u2019s keynote speaker, Pennsylvania\u2019s junior senator made light of a darker theory about his fitness for office.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI\u2019m John Fetterman, maybe, maybe,\u201d he said, before mentioning a \u201cfringe\u201d conspiracy theory that he has a body double.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cNormally, that stuff\u2019s crazy\u2026But this is\u00a0actually true. And I am the body double here tonight,\u201d he said to laughter. \u201cDo you have any idea how hard it was to find somebody that\u2019s six foot eight, that looked like this, and had a stroke?\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Since his return to work in April, the first-term senator has been seemingly more himself again and\u00a0his unusual persona has been shaking up the Senate.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt\u2019s just the water here,\u201d he told CNN in September when asked about the change back to his Senate schedule.\n <\/p>\n

\n Fetterman was the first of his colleagues in September to call for Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez to resign, and now is leading the push for Menendez\u2019s expulsion,\u00a0after the New Jersey Democrat was\u00a0indicted on alleged bribery charges\u00a0\u00a0and over allegedly acting as a foreign agent on Egypt\u2019s behalf.\n <\/p>\n

\n Shortly after the allegations against Menendez were publicized, Fetterman told CNN\u00a0he was \u201csurprised\u201d he was the first person to come out against Menendez, saying the case against him was \u201cso stark.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThat arrogance where now he\u2019s saying,\u00a0\u2018I\u2019m not going anywhere,\u2019 it\u2019s like \u2013 my dude, you are going somewhere, and it\u2019s going to be an election or it\u2019s going to be a conviction,\u201d Fetterman told CNN\u2019s Manu Raju.\u00a0\u201cDo the honorable exit, and stop being a massive kind of distraction here for the Senate and for the nation.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n On Thursday, he introduced a resolution, seemingly targeted at Menendez, that would strip senators charged with certain crimes from their committees and block them from having access to classified information.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWhen you find gold bars stuffed in a mattress, the jokes write themselves. But our national security isn\u2019t funny, it\u2019s often life or death,\u201d\u00a0Fetterman said\u00a0in a press release about the resolution.\n <\/p>\n

\n Besides Iowa, Fetterman has been on the road showing support for striking autoworkers. In September, the senator drove from his home in Braddock, Pennsylvania, to Wayne, Michigan,\u00a0to join the United Auto Workers\u2019 picket line. He has walked the strike line at least five times since then, also in Ohio and his home state.\n <\/p>\n

\n Known for sporting a hoodie and shorts,\u00a0Fetterman\u00a0pushed\u00a0back\u00a0on\u00a0Republican criticism of his\u00a0casual\u00a0attire\u00a0after the brief change in Senate rules,attacking them with memes and pointed tweets about their actions and the impasse over funding the government.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIf those jagoffs in the House stop trying to shut our government down, and fully support Ukraine, then I will save democracy by wearing a suit on the Senate floor next week,\u201d he posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, in September.\n <\/p>\n

\n The senator\u2019s colorful language and use of viral memes on social media were\u00a0hallmarks of his campaign\u00a0for Senate\u00a0last year, especially after his stroke in May 2022 took the then-Pennsylvania lieutenant governor off the campaign trail for three months\u00a0and affected his ability to communicate easily with voters.\n <\/p>\n

\n Earlier this year,\u00a0Fetterman spent eight weeks at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center receiving treatment for depression.\n <\/p>\n

\n With auditory processing difficulties from his stroke, he used closed captioning technology to assist him with questions.\n <\/p>\n

\n As Fetterman has adjusted to life in the\u00a0US\u00a0Capitol, he has also adjusted\u00a0to the\u00a0new form of communication. Early on, he kept the transcription app on a large tablet\u00a0and did not have many hallway interactions with reporters. As time has passed, he has since transitioned to using the app on his phone and stopping to answer questions and joke with his colleagues around the Capitol.\n <\/p>\n

\n Speaking in September during a Senate Aging Committee hearing on accessibility,\u00a0Fetterman became emotional\u00a0as he discussed how he has relied on the transcription app on his phone to communicate.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI had a stroke about 18 months ago, you know, and I have lost my ability to fully process language. And I like to think I was an empathetic person, truly, but until that happened, I\u2019ve raised to a whole different kind of level as well,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n

\n His voice cracked as he spoke about political attacks focused on his disability,\u00a0sharing that he was \u201cridiculed and made fun of because I wasn\u2019t able to process things sometimes or say things.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI was lucky enough to go through my life, the vast majority, without this kind of disability that I have. But again, I can\u2019t imagine the challenges, and I admire anyone that has to live with\u00a0these kind of struggles\u00a0and prevail over them,\u201d he told the\u00a0accessibility\u00a0advocates at the witness table.\n <\/p>\n

\n In\u00a0a moment that got attention on X,\u00a0Fetterman feigned shock\u00a0in September\u00a0when asked by a reporter about the\u00a0Republican-led House\u2019s opening of an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.<\/s>\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cOoooo,\u00a0don\u2019t do it.\u00a0Please don\u2019t do it,\u201d he said, making ghost-like noises as he wiggled his fingers.\n <\/p>\n

\n After\u00a0GOP\u00a0Rep. Matt Gaetz\u00a0of Florida\u00a0went after him for these comments, Fetterman\u00a0posted on X,\u00a0\u201cGovernment shutdown in t-minus 16 days. Instead of crying about how I dress, how about you get your\u00a0sh*t\u00a0together and do your job, bud?\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n And, later in the month, on the day of the first impeachment hearing at the House Oversight Committee, he sent the office a case of Bud Light \u2013 a company that has faced backlash from conservatives for featuring a transgender influencer in one of its\u00a0ad campaigns.\u00a0Fetterman posted on X\u00a0a photo of him holding the case, with a note that read, \u201cTo: Rep. Comer and his squad, A profile in courage can make a guy thirsty. Congratulations, this bud\u2019s for you. Hugs & Kisses: John Fetterman.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n He told CNN in September,\u00a0with his trademark bluntness,\u00a0that House Republicans would take the blame for a government shutdown if they couldn\u2019t\u00a0find a solution.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cSometimes crazy doesn\u2019t have a cure. And if they are going to drive over the cliff, they\u2019re going to own it. And if they\u2019re stupid to do it, then they\u2019re going to have to live with the consequences,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n

\n The first-term senator was often criticized by Republicans for his attire of hoodies and gym shorts when he was on the campaign trail. Although he has been spotted in a suit\u00a0occasionally at the Capitol, the 6\u20198\u201d senator says he still mostly dresses casually for \u201ccomfort\u201d and because \u201cit\u2019s kind of\u00a0hard to findsuits this size too.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n After\u00a0Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in September stopped enforcing the Senate\u2019s unwritten dress code of business attire on the chamber floor, Fetterman bore the brunt of Republican attacks about the change, with\u00a0then-House Speaker\u00a0Kevin McCarthy calling the shift \u201cembarrassing.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n In an interview with CNN\u2019s Manu Raju, he called the reaction to his attire, \u201cmystifying,\u201d\u00a0arguing that the Senate has more important things to address.\n <\/p>\n

\n After the Senate unanimously agreed to a new, official dress code of business attire, Fetterman\u2019s only response was posting a viral\u00a0meme<\/a>\u00a0of actor Kevin James, shrugging and smirking.\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n