Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) took a jab at California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom on Saturday as intra-party tensions over the 2024 presidential election rise.
During remarks at an event in Iowa, Fetterman chided Newsom over suspicions that he is running a shadow campaign for the White House while publicly insisting that he supports President Joe Biden‘s effort to seek a second term with Vice President Kamala Harris again as his running mate.
“There are two additional Democrats running for … president right now,” Fetterman said, according to NBC News.“One is a congressman from Minnesota, the other one is the governor of California, but only one has the guts to announce it.”
The other Democrat referenced by Fetterman was Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN), who announced a primary challenge against Biden last month while calling for a “new generation of American leaders.”
Newsom claims he is deferring to Biden’s re-election bid but has stoked a good deal of speculation about his political ambitions with travel to Israel and China as well as agreeing to have a debate with Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, who is running for the GOP presidential nomination. The California governor even recently quipped about how he wished he were president to better deal with foreign affairs.
Some of Biden’s supporters and others have called on him to consider dropping out amid low approval numbers, unfavorable polling in a hypothetical rematch against former President Donald Trump, and concerns about his fitness to continue serving as commander-in-chief at the age of 80.
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Newsom told NBC in September that he thinks Democrats “need to move past” their worries about Biden and exclaimed, “Of course not,” when asked if he could imagine running against Harris.
Fetterman, who defeated Dr. Mehmet Oz to win his Senate seat in Pennsylvania last November, has made headlines over the past year for his health struggles following a stroke and ensuing depression. He became the focus of the fight over the short-lived relaxing of the Senate’s dress code as he often skirted around the rules with his penchant for casual wear.
Fetterman has also not shied away from criticizing fellow Democrats, calling on the Senate to expel Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) as he faces criminal charges alleging improper ties to Egypt.