Fetterman explains why Biden dropping out of the race is no longer helping Trump
Fetterman explains why Biden dropping out of the race is no longer helping Trump
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00:00Welcome back to State of the Union, Pennsylvania may end up choosing the next president.
00:06The race there is a dead heat, and on Tuesday, presidential candidates will meet in Pennsylvania
00:12for what could be their only debate.
00:15Here with me now is Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman.
00:18Thank you so much for being here, sir.
00:19Kamala Harris is already there this weekend preparing for her debate against Donald Trump.
00:25You greeted her on the tarmac in Pittsburgh.
00:28What do you think she needs to do to win over key voters in Pennsylvania?
00:33Well, I mean, I really want to just point out that I haven't said anything different
00:39since back in 2016.
00:42Back then as a surrogate for Secretary Clinton, after my campaign, and now in 20 and now 24,
00:49it's going to be very close.
00:51It's going to be very close.
00:53And we have to do everything that we possibly can to make sure and have the conversations
00:57with all across Pennsylvania and all kinds of rooms that may be hopelessly red kinds
01:03of counties.
01:04But it's going to be the one on the margins.
01:07And I've always maintained that.
01:08And that's what happened in 2016, that Trump won.
01:12And then, of course, Joe Biden won by 80,000 votes.
01:15So I've been predicting this is going to be close regardless.
01:18And that's where we're at now.
01:20And that's why I'm committed to showing up all across Pennsylvania.
01:23And people understand it's all about the choice, the choice.
01:28And it's not about policies or who has more money or, you know, talking about scandals
01:35or things kind of thing.
01:36People all have to ask themselves, what kinds of the next four years do we want?
01:41Do we want that kind of chaos and that kinds of absolute kinds of reckless and bizarre
01:48behavior from Trump?
01:49Or do we want four more years of getting us through a pandemic and standing with our allies
01:56like Ukraine or Israel through all of that?
01:59And by any metric, our economy is the world's absolute world's envy on that.
02:04So I'm proud to stand with Joe Biden.
02:06And I'm absolutely proud to stand with Vice President Harris.
02:11And I also wanted to say that it's going to be a straight up debate.
02:15She's going to do great, of course.
02:17But Donald Trump will be good, too.
02:19I mean, we can all remember he wrecked all of the Republicans.
02:22He's a good debater.
02:24But at the end of the day, I don't believe this debate is going to be definitive because
02:28it's going to come down to this choice and it's going to be close.
02:32Senator, you have been saying nonstop a version of what you just said about going into the
02:38rural redder areas of Pennsylvania.
02:42But my question is, when you go in, what do you say?
02:46How do you convince those voters?
02:48And Kamala Harris will be effectively going in on this debate stage.
02:52What does she need to do to change the dynamic and make it less of a neck and neck race for
02:58the voters that you're talking about that she needs in your home state?
03:05Like I said, she has an amazing career and she definitely is a new way forward.
03:10But if you like some of the kinds of things that Trump, the way he speaks, the kinds of
03:14things that he's done, the kind of record that he had as a president and that kind of
03:18division and the kinds of cruelty and that it's like that's a that's a stark choice regardless
03:24where it was Biden or with Hillary Clinton as well.
03:29Pennsylvania is always going to be closed.
03:30And that's where we're at now.
03:32And it is a very, very stark choice.
03:35This isn't about nuance.
03:36And it's about who putting out the latest white papers and the kinds of obscure things.
03:42And that's why people I think a majority of Pennsylvanians are going to decide, hey,
03:46I want four years of order and fairness and unity and a different way forward.
03:54And I don't think they want the kinds of dark days and chaos that Donald Trump provided
04:00for our nation.
04:01I want to ask about what you were saying when Joe Biden was still running, excuse me, after
04:08the debate.
04:09You were one of his biggest defenders and you called the idea of replacing him the dumbest
04:16blank I've ever heard and said that walking away from Biden effectively was helping Trump.
04:22Do you still believe that that is the case?
04:24Did that bear out given where we are now?
04:27No, but where I was at is that I do believe fundamentally that Joe Biden would have beaten
04:33Trump and it was going to be very close.
04:35And I've always predicted that as well, too.
04:38And now Harris, and again, she's had an amazing run so far and we are raising record amounts
04:44of money and she's had an incredible all kinds of the last six weeks.
04:49But right now, it's here we are and it's going to be close.
04:52And it comes down to that very sane, very stark choice.
04:57I have said this, I challenge anybody, pull up anything that I've said about this kinds
05:02of elections all the way back eight years ago.
05:05I've said that it was going to be close when everybody thought that Hillary Clinton was
05:08going to pull it away and she wrecked him.
05:10She actually wrecked Trump objectively on the three debates.
05:15And people thought that Joe Biden was going to win by three or five points.
05:18And I didn't think that was going to be the case.
05:20And of course, we know how close that is.
05:22And now with with now Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket, it's going to be close
05:27to well, too.
05:28And I do believe she is going to prevail because a majority of Pennsylvanians are going to
05:33decide that we want a new way forward.
05:36And we don't want that kind of, you know, mess, this absolute chaos kinds of a thing.
05:42Finally, I have to ask about something that is very specific to your state, but could
05:47be really consequential.
05:49And that is President Biden reportedly set to block Japan's Nippon steel from a 15 billion
05:54dollar deal to acquire U.S. steel.
05:57U.S. steel gave a dire warning this week that blocking the deal would risk thousands of
06:01union jobs, even threatened to move their headquarters out of Pittsburgh.
06:06Would this hurt union workers in Pennsylvania?
06:11Well, that's that's appalling.
06:12The CEO has not behaved in any kind of an honorable way ever since, you know, I found
06:17out about that sale actually on your your network.
06:22I was like, well, what's going on?
06:23I mean, look, you're outside this window right there.
06:25That's the steel mills right there.
06:27You know, he was willing to throw all of these men and women under that as well, too.
06:33And now I've been very clear throughout this.
06:35I'm going to follow the union.
06:36I am going to follow whatever they want.
06:39If they'd actually now come out in favor of this, then I'm going to support that.
06:43But if they're now against that, I'm going to support that, too, because we and I'm
06:47always going to be on the right side for standing up for the union workers and the
06:52kinds of union jobs.
06:54And I do fundamentally believe that steel is a national security issue.
07:00So do you believe that President Biden should go ahead and block the sale?
07:08Where I'm at, like I said, it's like I am following the steel workers.
07:12I always have. I made that commitment as a candidate, and I am honoring that now as
07:18their senator, as a guy that actually is a member of the steel community.
07:22I live across the street from that that mill and right now and now what is the right
07:28thing and the best thing for the union workers and for these communities?
07:31And I support that. And that's why I'm going to continue to stand with the workers.
07:36Senator John Fetterman, thank you so much for your time this morning.
07:39Appreciate it.