OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. John Fetterman dropped some bad news on Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign during a Sunday interview with CNN’s Dana Bash, implying that she has not adequately “connected” with enough voters she needs, unlike her GOP opponent, former President Donald Trump.
“So, tomorrow, Kamala Harris will spend the last full day of the campaign only in Pennsylvania. She’s going to be in Allentown, in Pittsburgh, and in Philadelphia. There are 48 hours left in this race,” Bash began the segment.
“Now, back in 2016, when Trump won Pennsylvania, you said your party wasn’t connecting with voters enough that it needs. What are you seeing now? Are you seeing any of the same warning signs in 2024?” she asked.
“No, there’s no — there’s nothing new here,” the former state lieutenant governor began. “You know, I have said the same thing in 2016. I have said that it’s going to be really close. I mean, there’s an issue there. And I said that it’s going to be very close in 2020, and, of course, it was.
“And I have been saying this: Whether it was Biden or then became Harris, I said it’s going to be very close. And Trump definitely has a connection with voters here in Pennsylvania, and that’s why it’s going to be close,” he added. “But there’s a lot of tremendous amount of energy for Harris as well, too.
“Yesterday, I was in Erie and, of course, with President Clinton. And I was in Butler County as well, too. And so, I mean, the energy is really strong. I just met a whole bus of volunteers from Rochester, New York, and they’re coming, they’re showing up, and they’re just going to knock on — they’re going to knock on doors for Harris as well, too,” Fetterman continued.
“So it’s undeniable that there’s strong energy on both sides. It’s going to be close. And I’m not surprised to hear that Harris is going to spend a lot more time in Pennsylvania before the election because we all understand Pennsylvania is going to pick the president,” he said.
WATCH:
Last month, Fetterman cautioned Harris and his party not to underestimate Elon Musk’s support for Trump in the Keystone State.
With 19 Electoral College votes at stake in Pennsylvania on November 5, the state is classified as a toss-up by Fox News’ Power Rankings. As both Trump and Harris fiercely compete for Pennsylvania—where the winner is likely to take the White House—Fetterman, known for his straightforward style, told the New York Post in an interview that “Musk is a concern.”
“Not even just that he has endorsed [Trump], but the fact that now he’s becoming an active participant and showing up and doing rallies and things like that,” Fetterman said, going on to say that the very successful Tesla and SpaceX CEO is someone who can pull in the kinds of voters Harris needs to win.
“I mean, [Musk] is incredibly successful, and, you know, I think some people would see him as, like, a Tony Stark,” said Fetterman, referencing the popular Marvel Comics character. “Democrats, you know, kind of make light of it, or they make fun of him jumping up and down and things like that. And I would just say that they are doing that at our peril.”
Musk, the world’s richest man, has identified himself as a centrist and has previously voted for Democrats. However, he has recently stated in various social media posts that the Democratic Party has moved too far left, embracing what he terms the “woke mind virus.”
In mid-October, Musk appeared with Trump in his return to Butler, Pa., the site of the first assassination attempt against him, where the billionaire entrepreneur told the crowd that this is the “most important election of our lifetime.”
