Graham Platner's implosion in Maine didn't just end a Senate campaign. It closed the book on Sen. John Fetterman's (D-Pa.) relationship with Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and the far-left movement that once considered him one of its own.
Fetterman was among the first prominent Democrats willing to call out Platner's mounting baggage, even as most party leaders kept propping him up until the rape allegation made that impossible. Fetterman has taken to calling him "P-Hustle," a nod to Platner's old Reddit handle, and he's not saying it with any affection.
On Wednesday night, Fetterman sat down with Fox News' Charles Hurt on Jesse Watters Primetime and let Sanders have it.
"The trash took itself out," Fetterman said of Platner's withdrawal.
He wasn't finished. "Absolutely, Bernie Sanders needs to apologize to the voters of Maine and to everyone that donated to that train wreck of a campaign," Fetterman said.
Sanders only called on Platner to quit once the rape allegation surfaced. Before that, he was like the rest of them. Moralizing, justifying his support of Platner because winning was more important than his Nazi tattoo, his racist and misogynistic Reddit posts, or his abusive treatment of women. When the polls finally tightened and the rape allegation dropped, it was suddenly safe to call on Platner to drop out. So Sanders hardly deserves credit for breaking with Platner, and Fetterman agrees. Sanders, in his view, owes voters an apology for elevating Platner in the first place.
"More than anyone, he pushed 'P-Hustle' into the election," Fetterman said. "And now he keeps pushing these Communists and these kinds of awful, anti-American people."
ICYMI: Gutfeld Nails Exactly Why Democrats Turned Graham Platner Into a Folk Hero
Chris Borick, a Lehigh University professor and former president of the Pennsylvania Political Science Association, called the shift "dramatic."
"I can't find anything even close in comparison to the shifts that we've seen in Fetterman's positions on an array of matters over a short period of time," Borick said.
"We've seen people switch parties, like Arlen Specter... but in terms of a quick departure on the most significant levels, Fetterman's changes are without precedent in the state," Borick added.
Borick is a moron. Fetterman still largely aligns with the Democrats, voting with them roughly 95% of the time. That doesn’t make him a conservative. Heck, it doesn’t even make him a moderate. Supporting Israel and wanting strong borders were Democrat Party positions not all that long ago.
Yet somehow, 2018, when Fetterman was elected to the Senate, feels like forever ago. Even Bernie Sanders endorsed Fetterman's Senate bid, saying his campaign was about working to "transform this country and create a government that works for all of us, not just wealthy campaign contributors.” Since Fetterman won that race, Pennsylvania Democrat groups, including the Monroe County Democrat Party in the Poconos, have taken to calling him a "traitor."
But back to the Platner mess. Fetterman is right. Sanders put the Democrat Party in this position; he propped up a Reddit troll with a checkered past, attached his name and reputation to him, and let Maine Democrats and party activists nationwide pour their money into him. Fetterman is right: an apology is the least Sanders owes them.
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