Fetterman: Democrats must condemn violence in protests
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) again urged fellow Democrats on Tuesday to condemn violence as mass demonstrations continue to rock Los Angeles — a day after he slammed his party for not doing more to respond to growing unrest at protests over the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.
'All I said was, when people are setting cars on fire and damaging buildings and going after law enforcement, that's not free speech, that's not protesting,' he told NewsNation's Joe Khalil at the Capitol. 'That's illegal behavior and we can never be quiet or defend that.'
'It's incumbent on our party to condemn it,' he added.
Fetterman posted on the social platform X on Monday that the growing California protests had devolved into 'anarchy and true chaos.'
'My party loses the moral high ground when we refuse to condemn setting cars on fire, destroying buildings, and assaulting law enforcement,' he wrote. 'I unapologetically stand for free speech, peaceful demonstrations, and immigration — but this is not that.'
Democratic leaders from California, including Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, have stressed that protestors should remain peaceful and condemned violent acts as images of burning cars and other destruction began to emerge.
Fetterman told Khalil that he wasn't directly speaking to their responses in his X post.
'All I'm saying for me, with what has happened, the optics that have emerged, for the vast majority of people, it's way beyond free speech or protesting,' Fetterman said.
President Trump has sent thousands of National Guard troops and Marines to protect federal buildings and workers during the demonstrations.
Trump and Fetterman have developed an apparently cordial relationship since the start of Trump's second presidency, after Fetterman defeated Trump ally Dr. Mehmet Oz (R) for the coveted Pennsylvania senate seat in 2022.
Reports emerged Tuesday that Pennsylvania's junior senator met with former Trump strategist Steve Bannon Monday evening at the Trump-friendly restaurant Butterworth's on Capitol Hill.
Meanwhile, some Democrats have highlighted Fetterman's alleged erratic behavior since openly seeking mental health treatment in 2023.
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