Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. John Fetterman called for liberals to dial back the rhetoric that likens President Donald Trump and his supporters to fascists, arguing it will only lead to more political violence like that seen in the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
Appearing at a NewsNation town hall hosted by Chris Cuomo at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Fetterman noted that he was the only Democrat in his family and that he grew up in a conservative part of south-central Pennsylvania.
The senator is a native of York, which is represented by Republican Rep. Scott Perry in Congress.
“I know and I love people that voted for President Trump. They are not fascists, they’re not Nazis, they’re not trying to destroy the Constitution,” Fetterman told Cuomo. “I refuse to call people Nazis or fascists. I would never compare anybody — anybody to Hitler.”
He argued that such extreme rhetoric leads to extreme outcomes, including the assassination of Kirk.
The shooter of the conservative star reportedly wrote on one of his bullet casings, “Hey fascist, catch!”
Utah Governor Cox provides more details on the assassin’s engraved ammunition: “Inscriptions on an unfired casing read, ‘Hey, fascist! Catch!’” pic.twitter.com/ao5rbD8jjb
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) September 12, 2025
“Like Charlie Kirk, all I could say is let people grieve — give people the space. I’m not going to use that terrible thing and that assassination to make my argument and try to put out my views,” Fetterman said.
Do you think the Democrats need more senators like Fetterman?
“He’s a father that had his neck blown out by a bullet. And now people have forgotten: President Trump was in my state — was shot in the head. Could you imagine where our nation would be if he was hit in the same way as Kirk? We really got to turn the temperature down,” he added.
Fetterman is one of a handful of Democrats who crossed party lines to vote to keep the federal government open.
“I follow country and then party, and it’s the wrong thing for the country. In a period of chaos, I refuse to vote to shut our government down,” he said, drawing applause from the town hall audience.
John Fetterman just blew up Democrats’ shut down narrative.
FETTERMAN: “Shutting the government is really what the Democratic Party wants to do… [Obamacare subsidies were] designed by the Democratic Party to expire … This is NOT something taken by the Republicans.” pic.twitter.com/VE4s1LRWDE
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 16, 2025
Fetterman indicated he would support extending the enhanced Obamacare subsidies, but not at the expense of keeping the government closed.
One of the Democrats’ demands in order to vote to reopen the government is the extension of the lockdown-era policy. Sixty votes are needed in the Senate to end debate on legislation, and Republicans only have a 53-seat majority.
“I would love to have a conversation about extending the tax credits for healthcare, absolutely,” Fetterman said.
But, he pointed out, “This was designed by the Democratic Party to expire at the end of the year. This is not something taken by the Republicans.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Thursday that he has offered to have a standalone vote on extending the Obamacare enhanced subsidies in exchange for the Democrats voting to reopen the government.
Fox News host John Roberts pointed out that it was the Democrats who had voted to sunset the enhanced subsidies at the end of this year in a provision in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
President Trump and Republicans want the government reopened immediately.
Federal workers are missing paychecks, flights are being delayed and canceled, and our economy may be hurting because the Democrats want the government to stay shut down.
They are completely reckless. pic.twitter.com/D2z8ZqclWV
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) October 16, 2025
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday regarding the shutdown, “The president is bending over backwards to do what’s right by the American people, and the Democrats are continuing to play partisan politics.”
“We hope every day that sensible Democrats with just a little bit of courage to stand against Bernie Sanders and [Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez]… stand against the radical nonsense and vote to reopen the government, and then we can have serious conversations about healthcare, about immigration, and about our economy,” she added.
The Democrats voted on Thursday for the 10th time to keep the government shut down for what has now been 16 days.
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