Video News Clips: In Their Own Words

‘I’m Not Rooting Against Him’: Fetterman Expresses Hope For Trump’s Presidency

Screenshot/ABC News/"This Week"

Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman said Sunday on ABC News he hopes President-elect Donald Trump has a successful second term, noting that if he were to root against him, he would effectively be rooting against the country.

Since Trump’s first term, Democrats, along with a handful of Republicans, have been vocal critics of the president-elect, with some Democrats refusing to commit to certifying the election results prior to Trump’s win in November. On ABC’s “This Week,” co-host Jonathan Karl questioned the Pennsylvania lawmaker on what he is “most optimistic” about in a second term under Trump, as well as what he fears.

“Well, it’s like I’ve been warning people, like, you got to chill out, you know? Like the constant, you know, freak out — it’s not helpful. So, you know, pack a lunch — pace yourself because he hasn’t even taken office yet,” Fetterman responded.

Karl then asked Fetterman if he believes that Trump “has the potential to be a successful and a good president,” to which the Democratic lawmaker responded by explaining why he has hope for Trump’s second term.

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“I hope. Because I’m not rooting against him,” Fetterman said. “If you’re rooting against the president you’re rooting against the nation and I’m not ever gonna be where I want a president to fail. So, country first. I know that it’s become maybe like a cliche, but it happens to be truth.”

Prior to Trump’s win in November, Fetterman had openly discussed the former president’s “special” bond with his home state, noting how it grew after 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks attempted to assassinate the former president on July 13. By November, Fetterman called the Republican victory a “serious flex for the bros,” criticizing Democrats who “scolded” voters and ridiculed Trump supporters. The lawmaker also pushed back on the narrative that Trump and his supporters are fascists, which was widely promulgated by Harris and her surrogates leading up to the election.

“I love people that are absolutely going to vote for Trump. They’re not fascists. They’re not those things. I think if you go to the tickle switch, use those kinds of terms, then it’s kind of hard to walk back on those things. That’s kind of a word that really isn’t part of the vernacular for voters. Scolding harder or clutching the pearls harder, that’s never going to work for Democrats,” Fetterman told Politico.

In early December, Fetterman called Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case against Trump “politically motivated,” arguing on a segment of “The View” that it would be “appropriate” to pardon Trump in the Bragg case, as well as the criminal prosecution brought against President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, due to their alleged political motives.