Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) faced harsh online criticism after his recent appearance on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” on Wednesday night.
Dressed in his usual slob attire — shorts and a hoodie — Fetterman discussed a variety of issues with the former king of late night Colbert, but one comment that was meant to be a rebuke of his critics backfired spectacularly thanks to his stunning lack of self-awareness.
During Colbert’s ridiculously softball interview, he remarked to Fetterman, “You’ve got excellent meme game, but then you have to see these people in the cafeteria.”
Ahh yes, because meme games are what we elect senators for. But what was even more ridiculous than the setup was the response from Fetterman.
“You all need to know that America is not sending their best and brightest, you know, to Washington, D.C,” Fetterman replied. The audience laughed… I’m not sure if they were laughing with him or at him. “Like, sometimes you literally just can’t believe, like, these people are making the decisions that are determining the government here. It’s actually scary.”
John Fetterman, completely unironically: "America is not sending their best and brightest, you know, to Washington, D.C." pic.twitter.com/9ExRRSBs3X
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 12, 2023
You know what? It really is. It was also unfortunate timing on his part to make such a criticism and then literally botch the sentence.
I don’t know if this was a planned joke or not, but this was hardly the quip for someone who literally hid from the public after his stroke last year because he could barely speak coherently. Fetterman then had such a disastrous debate performance with his Republican opponent, Dr. Mehmet Oz, because he was clearly cognitively impaired that he only managed to win the race because he had banked enough votes through early voting for it to matter.
Related: Fetterman Tweet Hilariously Backfires
Soon after taking office, he checked himself into Walter Reed for depression. Even since his return, it’s been clear that his impairments are impeding his ability to serve. His attempts at running hearings and questioning witnesses have been embarrassing.
Sure, the mainstream media has tried hard to pretend he can still do his job, but no one would dare say he’s one of the “best and brightest.” After all, this is a guy for whom Democrats had the Senate dress code relaxed on his behalf because he can’t be bothered to wear a suit.
Heck, even forgetting about Fetterman, his comment feels more like a dig at Joe Biden than any Republican. We’ve watched Biden appear lost on stage, lose his train of thought, fall down, speak gibberish, and otherwise demonstrate he’s not all there mentally. Polls show that bipartisan majorities question his fitness for office. Hardly a week goes by without some embarrassing gaffe on his part, and there are also stretches where Biden is missing in action.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member