GOP Ad Against Pennsylvania Senate Candidate John Fetterman Calls Him A ‘Radical’

In a 30-second ad by the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the GOP labeled Democratic Senate candidate,  Lieutenant Gov. John Fetterman (D-Pennsylvania), as a left-wing radical working with Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vermont).

The ad, which includes a video of a white van with a Fetterman sticker and a group of young people, accuses Fetterman of being “too radical.”

“Left-wing radicals are rolling into Pennsylvania, pushing John Fetterman,” the narrator says. 

The NRSC pushes further, saying Fetterman backed a “government takeover” of healthcare and energy policies. 

The ad also bashes Fetterman’s support from Sanders, referencing the senator’s endorsement of Fetterman as an “outstanding progressive.”

Fetterman, who was left largely alone during the first years of his political rise, is now the main target of GOP mudslinging. Fetterman has marketed himself as a physical representation of Pennsylvania: working-class and non-elitist.

The recent ad comes as he faces off for a U.S. Senate seat against GOP nominee Mehmet Oz.

Republican political strategist Sarah Longwell described the appeal of Pennsylvania voters on a podcast, “It’s not that he’s progressive that they like or don’t like. They like that he’s authentic.”

With his broad, populist appeal, Fetterman is likely to win over swing voters despite the recent GOP attacks, which mainly target Fetterman’s progressive policies. 

Fetterman, in the past, has supported many progressive policies of President Joe Biden and Sanders, but at times Fetterman has broken away such as when he came out recently in support of keeping the Trump-era Title 42 policy on immigration.

Bernie Sanders’ disciple @JohnFetterman is too radical for Pennsylvania.

In today’s economy the last thing Pennsylvanians need is another vote for the Democrats’ inflation-inducing agenda.
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— Senate Republicans (@NRSC) June 6, 2022