'Head-Spinning': John Fetterman’s Breaks With Joe Biden Confound Some Democrats

The Pennsylvania senator's public breaks with the White House are drawing comparisons to more conservative Democrats like Sen. Joe Manchin.

WASHINGTON – When Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) ran for Senate, he promised voters that he would be a loyal member of the Democratic team, lambasting senators who broke with President Joe Biden’s agenda.

“Does anyone in this room fashion themselves a Joe Manchin Democrat?” Fetterman asked the audience at an April 2022 Democratic primary debate, referring to conservative Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who has blocked some of his party’s top legislative priorities.

When no hands went up in the audience, Fetterman said, “I’m grateful that Joe Manchin is a Democrat, but if I were your Democratic senator from Pennsylvania, I’ll never be that vote that holds important stuff up from getting done.” When his chief rival, former Rep. Conor Lamb (D-Pa.), sought to tie Fetterman to progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Fetterman praised Sanders for sticking with Biden “as opposed to Joe Manchin.”

Fetterman, now in his sophomore year in the Senate, has been true to his word about being a reliable Democratic vote in the Senate. But his attacks against members of his own party and public breaks with the White House are drawing comparisons to Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), the two signature Democratic party apostates of the moment, putting on display some of the very tendencies Fetterman said he opposed — even if earlier stages of his career hinted at his current behavior.

This version of the gruff, hoodie-wearing, 6-foot-8 Pennsylvania senator has grated on progressives who supported him during his 2022 run for Senate and even some fellow Keystone Democrats who watched his rise to national prominence.