Carville: Fetterman “Just Desperate To Get Attention”

John Fetterman, James Carville

Much has been said about Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman and his overtures toward the incoming administration of Donald Trump.

It has not gone unnoticed by Democratic strategist James Carville.

During his “Politics War Room” podcast, the Louisianian who was the lead strategist for Bill Clinton’s run to the White House, responded to a listener question about whether Fetterman was sliding into the role of former Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) or Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) during the last Congress.

“(Fetterman) told me to shut the fuck up,” said Carville, “and at the time, I took mild offense at it. I no longer take offense. I honestly think the guy’s had a major health issue in his life and I think he just wants to get his name in the paper,” Carville said.

Fetterman suffered a stroke on the campaign trail in Lancaster, Pa., in May of 2022, and checked into Walter Reed Medical Center in January 2023 for depression.

“And you know, he was the most progressive person,” he continued. “He was a Bernie bro, then he was this and now he wants to meet with Trump. And he’s fighting with me, fights with the governor.

“No idea what his current state of his health is, but I think he’s like, ‘I’m just going to do everything I can to get as much publicity I can and run this thing as hard as I can until my term’s up in 2026.’ That’s what I think,” Carville added on Thursday. “I think the guy’s like — he’s just desperate to get attention.”

Co-host Al Hunt corrected Carville by reminding him that Fetterman’s term actually expires in 2028.

“It’ll be very few times where his vote is decisive,” Hunt added. “But what he does is he’ll give the Republicans a patina of bipartisanship on some things, and he’ll just be a — he’ll be a nuisance.”

“If he gets his name in the paper or gets in the news, I think that’s his short, immediate, and long-term goal,” concluded Carville.

it is not the first time that Carville and Fetterman have squared off.

In December 2023, Fetterman fired a shot at Carville after the strategist warned that President Joe Biden could lose to Trump in the 2024 election.

“There’s a whole lifetime in politics between now and next November as well. I’m not worried about that,” said Fetterman in an interview with POLITICO. “And I’m very vocal about this, too, while there are Democrats that are being very critical about the president. … I’ll use this [as] another opportunity to tell James Carville to shut the fuck 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.”

Last August, Carville warned Fetterman he would take action against him for allegedly undermining his state’s governor, Josh Shapiro, by lobbying against him to be Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate.

“The other thing is, is one of the great backstabbers in modern Democratic politics is John Fetterman, but I’m going to wait ’til after the election to deal with him. But he’s somebody that must be dealt with, and must be dealt with in real terms,” Carville said.

 

2 Responses

  1. 1. I am proud of myself for voting for Conor Lamb. It feels good to say “I told you so,” to so many Democratic Socialists.
    2. When will people stop lumping Manchin with Sinema? It is evidence of the state of affairs that amateurs are running Democratic politics that people think of Sinema and Manchin as alike. Manchin held a seat for the Democrats that only he could hold onto. He voted the way he needed to vote to win elections in his state. Sinema was a fraud who ran as a “progressive,” and who undermined the Democratic Party solely for her own personal gain. She didn’t need to vote the way she did in order to be re-elected. That is proven by the fact that Gallego won her seat. Good riddance to Sinema. We will miss Joe Manchin.

  2. Anyone, including Carville, who didn’t already understand that Fetterman was always about one thing, and one thing only, Fetterman, wasn’t paying any attention.

    His whole political career has been about getting personal publicity and having a seat at the table.





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