Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman blasted his party for playing up their outrage over talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension on Thursday, arguing Democrats should be instead focused on preventing the “chaos” a government shutdown would unleash across the country.
Up against a Sept. 31 deadline to fund the government, Democrats spent Thursday railing against Kimmel’s show being axed from the airwaves following comments made by the comedian suggesting the suspected killer in the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was a Trump supporter. Fetterman told the DCNF in a brief interview that he’s tired of Democrats sounding the alarm on every issue and that his colleagues should relent from fighting Republicans over government funding, asserting a shutdown would be a “reckless” move.
“Everything is turning into like a national freak out,” Fetterman told the DCNF when asked about his reaction to ABC pulling “Jimmy Kimmel Live” off the air. “If a late night host got put on hiatus, if that’s a national freak out, then if we shut our government down, that’s a serious national freak out kind of a thing.”
“I don’t think we need that [a shutdown] right now,” Fetterman continued. “It’s wrong.”
Top congressional Democrats called for the resignation of Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair Brendan Carr on Thursday, accusing President Donald Trump and his appointees of weaponizing the federal government against their perceived political enemies. House Oversight ranking member Robert Garcia also announced a probe into Kimmel’s indefinite suspension.
“This is an assault on everything this country has stood for since the Constitution’s been signed,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said in a press conference on Thursday. “Whether it’s Jimmy Kimmel, civil society organizations, or the Trump administration’s perceived political enemies, its crusade is unending.”
Fetterman, who has frequently criticized his party’s approach to Trump and congressional Republicans, had a different take.
“I’m just tired of squaring up on everything,” Fetterman told the DCNF. “People need to just chill a little about a lot of things.”
Fetterman’s calls on Democrats to lower the temperature comes as the majority of those in his caucus are gearing up for a major fight with Republicans, raising the prospects of a shutdown.
Though Democratic leadership is likely to try to form a united front if the caucus rejects a GOP spending bill that would fund the government, Fetterman has pledged to spoil those plans.
He told the DCNF after leaving a Democratic Caucus meeting on Thursday that his colleagues’ arguments for shutting down the government were “unproductive” and that he will vote for Republicans’ short-term funding measure, known as a continuing resolution (CR).
Democrats unveiled an alternative CR on Wednesday that would force the government to spend more than $1 trillion through Nov. 21 on several Democratic party priorities, including a permanent extension of expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies. GOP leaders have declared their proposal to be dead-on-arrival.
“America would be a serious loser if we shut our government down,” Fetterman said. “I think it’s crazy not to extend those ACA tax credits, but if we get a clean CR, I don’t know where the math will be, but I know where my vote will be.”
“After [Charlie] Kirk and a lot of the other things, I don’t think we need more chaos,” Fetterman added.
The Pennsylvania Democrat also ripped his colleagues who support shutting down the government over their belief that Trump is using the full weight of the government to end democracy. Democratic Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy said Thursday that Democrats do not “have an obligation to fund the destruction of our democracy.”
“If you really believe we’re moving toward autocracy, why would you then now shut our government down and hand them the entire keys to control it,” Fetterman told the DCNF.
“That’s reckless and dangerous,” Fetterman continued. “And I will refuse to ever vote for that.”
Schumer made a similar argument when he chose to supply the requisite votes for a GOP spending bill in March, asserting that a shutdown would have given Trump more power to slash federal spending and reduce the size of government.
After taking a beating from the leftward flank from his party and facing mounting pressure to fight Republicans until the shutdown deadline lapses, the minority leader argues this funding fight “is much different.”
“Democrats are unified,” Schumer told reporters Tuesday.
Caden Olson contributed to this report.
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