Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) criticized fellow Democrats for calling President Donald Trump “Hitler” or an “autocrat,” urging his party to lower the rhetoric following the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk.
Fetterman spoke with CNN’s Manu Raju on Wednesday, shortly after news broke that Kirk had been shot during a campus event at Utah Valley University — though before his death was confirmed.
The senator noted that just one day earlier, protesters were calling Trump the “Hitler of our time.” He said such comparisons are dangerous and counterproductive.
“I think you just don’t ever, ever compare anyone to Hitler and those kinds of extreme things,” Fetterman said. “Now, look what happened to Charlie Kirk. I mean, you know, the man was shot. Now, we have to turn the temperature down. We can’t compare people to these kinds of figures in history. And this is not an autocrat. This is a product of a democratic election.”
When asked by Raju if Trump was “shattering any of the norms of democracy,” Fetterman replied: “I’m saying he’s definitely different, but that’s what America voted for. Again, I don’t agree with many of these things, but that does not make him an autocrat.”
Fetterman, who often challenges his own party, said he has no plans to abandon the Democratic label but argued Democrats have “lost the argument.”
“Right now, I think it’s entirely appropriate to really be honest and just figure out why exactly have we effectively lost two out of the last three cycles and of a lot of things,” he said. “We’ve really kind of lost our connection with American voters in ways. And I think we can’t just be ‘well, Trump is always wrong’ or that ‘we’re going to set the country on fire’ or whatever. That’s just not true either, of course.”
He added: “But, you know, when I represent a state like Pennsylvania, that keeps you honest. You always can’t forget that a lot of Americans happen to disagree with you. That does not mean that they are fascists, or now they want to shred the Constitution.”
Watch the clip above.
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