Sen Fetterman On Eating The Cats

Welker: "Why should voters trust" Kamala wouldn't ban fracking?

Fetterman: "It's so strange why we keep talking about fracking"

Welker: You called fracking a "stain on Pennsylvania." What do you now like about fracking?"

Fetterman: "They're eating dogs. They're eating cats." pic.twitter.com/kkVkT13PU7

— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) September 22, 2024

Sen Fetterman uttered a sphinx-like remark over the weekend that seems to have pundits confused. In the wake of the apparent non-sequitur in the clip above, Tim Haines said,

When repeatedly pressed about abandoning his opposition to fracking during a "Meet The Press" interview on Sunday, Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. John Fetterman said he doesn't have to answer that kind of specific policy question because "the other side" doesn't take policy seriously.

I don't think that was whnat the senator said, and I definitely don't think that was the subtext of what he said. Here are key excerpts from the transcript quoted in the story:

KRISTEN WELKER: . . . In 2018 you said you don't support fracking at all. But then in 2022 you said you absolutely support fracking. Senator, what exactly do you like about fracking now?

SENATOR JOHN FETTERMAN: . . . And you know, here I am now, I'm a United States Senator, and I won by five points, a record margin back in '22. And again, it might be an issue in fracking. And I totally support fracking. So does the Vice President Harris. And now if you want to have a serious conversation about policy, then I would challenge Trump and Vance to have one other than talking about eating pets.

KRISTEN WELKER: . . . But to the point, what do you now like about fracking? You say you're not going to ban it; you support it now.

SENATOR JOHN FETTERMAN: "They're eating dogs, they're eating cats." You know, again, so okay. Yes, any more on fracking?

His basic answer to Kristen Welker's question obout fracking was an appeal to realpolitik: he ran on fracking in 2022, he supported it in that election, and he won by five points. She continued to press him, and losing patience -- he's a surprisingly smart guy -- he answered with another appeal to realpolitik: Trump and Vance are running on Haitians eating pets, and it's winning, the same way he won by supporting fracking in 2022. That's his answer.

This is consistent with his earlier remarks on Trump:

“Trump has created a special kind of a hold” among voters in the Keystone State, said Fetterman, securing “a special kind of place in Pennsylvania.”

Fetterman said, “I want people to understand, it’s not science, but there is energy, and there is kinds of anger on the ground in Pennsylvania and people are very committed, and Trump is going to be strong.”

Earlier in Sunday's interview, he suggested fracking won't be the issue that decides this year's election in Pennsylvania:

While Fetterman suggested fracking is now a fringe issue among Pennsylvanians, a recent poll showed broad bipartisan support, with 68 percent of those polled supporting fracking and just 19 percent against the practice.

But what will be the issue that decides the election, then? I think he gave his answer -- "They're eating dogs, they're eating cats." There's anger on the ground in Pennsylvania.

This is where many republicans misread Trump's strategy. Karl Rove had this to say after the September 10 debate:

Rove, who is also a political contributor for Fox News, recalled Trump’s previous insult of Harris in July as “dumb as a rock” and wrote: “Which raises the question: What does that make him?”

The question concluded Rove’s withering critique of Trump’s debate performance, which he said was a “train wreck” for the former president and “far worse than anything Team Trump could have imagined.”

Trump “let his emotions get the better of him” and “did a terrible job at his most important task — tying her to President Biden’s failed policies,” said Rove.

Harris “came across as calm, confident, strong and focused on the future” while Trump was “hot, angry and fixated on the past, especially his own,” he added.

Except, as Sen Fetterman says, there's anger on the ground, something Trump sees, and he's reflecting it in his manner. Why was the one memorable line in the debate about eating dogs and cats? Why did that find its way into a viral video? Why is legacy media so intent on using it to call Trump supporters racist?

Sen. Marco Rubio responded to questions about what Donald Trump has said about the migrant crisis in Springfield, Ohio, during an interview with Margaret Brennan on CBS's "Face The Nation."

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, here in this country, in terms of people being inspired to take action, we have been looking, as you heard about, what the perception of the public is right now, particularly some of the things that Mr. Trump and Mr. Vance say. Our poll shows two thirds of Trump supporters believe those false and disparaging claims about Haitian migrants are true. . . . the verbal attacks dilute and cloud what should be a winning argument for Republicans about the border. Do you agree that this kind of thing is a distraction from the broader point and dangerous?

. . . SEN. RUBIO: That is a story here that everyday Americans are being made to feel like they're haters because they're complaining about something all- any of us would complain. If any of us, I don't care who we are, live in a city of 4,000 people, and you bring in 2,500 migrants overnight into one place, there are going to be problems there.

MARGARET BRENNAN: There are absolutely problems--

SEN. RUBIO: It doesn't make you a bigot there. That should be what we're focused on.

Margaret Brennan is simply supporting Sen Fetterman's insight: CBS's own polls show that Trump's remarks about eating the cats have had a powerful effect. These are the subliminal messages that Trump understands instinctively. and Sen Fetterman, a politician who seems to have been underrated, understands that Trump understands them.