(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) In a recent exchange with a striking union member, Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., claimed that his Democrat parents voted for former President Donald Trump.
Fetterman reportedly joined members of the United Auto Workers on their picket line last week in Macungie, Pa., just outside of Allentown.
While the county of Lehigh, in which it resides, went 53.2% for Joe Biden in the 2020 election, neighboring Berks County went 53.4% for then-President Donald Trump, underscoring the deep divisions in the region whose economy has historically been driven by mining and steel manufacturing.
A 55-second video posted to Twitter showed Fetterman, dressed in his traditional garb of a hoodie and basketball shorts, engaging with a picketer who had expressed his support for Trump.
“…Trump. That’s all right, my parents did, too,” he said. “It’s nothing personal.”
The constituent agreed with that point, noting that it wasn’t a personal beef with Fetterman but the fact that his “policies are bad.”
Fetterman, while simultaneously checking his phone, then accused the former president of ignoring his constituents.
“That’s OK, that’s OK,” he said told the Trump supporter. “I hope it does matter that one of us is here, and the other one [Trump] isn’t.”
While unions traditionally have supported Democrat candidates, Trump did, in fact, offer his support to UAW workers at a Detroit rally in September, stirring panic among Democrats that he could poach another reliably blue coalition, as he has done with many blocs of minority voters.
Fetterman continued to lay it on thick, suggesting that—despite his having drawn an allowance from his wealthy parents until age 49—he, too identified as a blue-collar worker.
“No matter who you vote for, I truly hope it all works out for you and the workers, and that’s all that really matters to me,” he said. “I just hope you understand that … I’m always going to be on the side of the workers.”
Both Fetterman and his parents, Karl and Susan, have previously claimed that the two elder Fettermans were Republicans, prompting, The Federalist last year to investigate.
“We want to tell you something about John Fetterman. He was raised by two Trump-voting Republicans right here in this house in York,” his parents claimed in a campaign video.
“John will fight to make more stuff in America, cut taxes for working people, and most importantly make sure no one forgets Western PA – our home"
Judy, a Republican, keeps it totally 💯
Can't wait for all of yinz in the Pittsburgh area to see this 🤩 pic.twitter.com/BZPecvAnM6
— John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) October 28, 2022
However, it was discovered soon thereafter that both had registered as Democrats in 2016 and voted in the Democratic primaries that same year.
