Pennsylvania Democratic Senator John Fetterman detailed why he believes the Democrats lost white men in the last election and voiced doubt that the party could once more secure their vote.
The lawmaker said in an interview with journalist Tara Palmeri that the Democrats have taken a lecturing tone toward men, demanding that they stay within certain strict politically correct behaviors, all while failing to represent their interests and aspirations for life in America.
“I think their primary currency was shaming and scolding and talking down to people, and telling them, hey, I know better than you, or you’re dopes, or you're a bro, or you’re ignorant, how can you be this dumb? I can’t imagine it,” Fetterman said, detailing the accusations used by his political allies. “They're fascists. How can you vote for that? And, you know, when you’re in a state like Pennsylvania, I know and I love people that voted for Trump, and they’re not fascist.”
Fetterman also criticized the choice of new leadership for the Democrats, which includes youth gun control proponent David Hogg serving as one of three vice chairs for the party. The activist has called for defunding the police and abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Fetterman described the last election as a “gut check” rather than a debate about “obscure kinds of policies,” with voters casting ballots for those who they saw as better representing the American way of life and identifying with “people who seem to be looking out for me.”
In the last election, now-former Vice President Kamala Harris indeed underperformed among men relative to now-former President Joe Biden four years earlier. Democrats especially lost support from young men across several racial groups, particularly blacks and Hispanics.
Palmeri asked Fetterman how the Democrats could win white men into their coalition. Fetterman said that he did not know and added “I’m not sure if that’s possible, to be honest.”
“In the conversations I’ve had, a lot of people, they don’t even want to say it publicly, but they just feel like the other side seems like, men are the problem, men are to blame, or their masculinity is toxic,” Fetterman added. “Unless you’re able to conform to our very strict kinds of definitions of what we think is appropriate, well, then I’m just going to find an alternative.”
