ERICK
“Our different visions don’t make us enemies. If we identify everyone as the enemy, then we become just a bunch of
hammers, and everyone else is the nail.” — Sen. John Fetterman
Both are positions he has
long held, according to Fet- terman, and not the other way around. “I was called a dope and a
stoner and these things,” Fet- terman said of his support for the legalization of marijuana. “For me, I don’t judge people. It’s about personal freedom. Sometimes that aligns on the left side, but other times it also aligns on the right side. “Now,” Fetterman added,
“there are talks about banning nicotine pouches — ridiculous.” He proudly notes that he is
likely the only member of the Senate who flies both a prison- er-of-war flag and the pride flag. “These are my values, and
I don’t know why they need to be mutually exclusive. I’m never going to vote against the military or members of [the LG- BTQ+] community.” However, one view that has
under Trump have, in recent years, moved beneath his feet, according to Fetterman. As evidence, he points to
the Republican embrace of gay marriage as well as the legal- ization of marijuana in recent years, while the left flank of the Democratic Party, which had once been a firm supporter of Israel, has seen that erode.
changed for Fetterman is the degree to which the country has been polarized — particu- larly the depth of hatred within his party. Fetterman told Newsmax
that even during his worst mo- ments, the cruelest tactics of the political right never com- pared to the attacks he had to endure from progressives. “People are going to agree
and disagree on things, but I promise you, I never had a group of MAGA-types showing
up at my house,” he said. “But I had a lot on the far left
show up at my home and scare my 10-year-old. They [MAGA] never followed me around in D.C. or showed up at my of- fice. They’ve never done any of those things — it’s actually the other side throughout all of this, and that’s part of my frustration with where we are at. “These bold progressives
have turned into scold progres- sives,” he added. “Overall, we are a sorry lot
in politics.” In part, the reason the pro-
gressive vitriol against the right strikes such a nerve with Fetterman is because they are attacks against his own family, including his parents, whom he describes as “Reagan Re- publicans.” “I grew up in York, and that’s
a conservative area in a con- servative part of the state, and really, everyone in my family is Republican, and I never saw them as the enemy,” he said. “We just happen to have dif-
ferences on some things or agree on some things, but I would re- ally like to remind everybody, whatever side you’re on, that we are all Americans, and we in- tensely love our nation. “Our different visions don’t
make us enemies. If we iden- tify everyone as the enemy, then we become just a bunch of hammers, and everyone else
FEBRUARY 2025 | NEWSMAX 59
DEMETRIUS FREEMAN/THE WASHINGTON POST VIA GETTY IMAGES
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