Pennsylvania Republican Senator Dave McCormick came to the defense of his Democratic Senate colleague John Fetterman over the weekend, blasting former staffers as “outrageously disloyal” after a bombshell Wall Street Journal report alleged Fetterman complained about attending a funeral for slain police officers and skipped a meeting with paralyzed veterans.
McCormick took to X on Sunday evening to push back on the report, framing it as part of a broader pattern of leftist efforts to sideline Fetterman for refusing to toe the party line.
“These stories are the latest example of outrageously disloyal staff and forces on the Left using anonymous leaks to cancel my friend John Fetterman,” McCormick wrote. “They hate that he is an independent thinker who refuses to fall into line so they want to silence him.”
The senator went further, pledging that he and Fetterman would keep working together on behalf of Pennsylvania, pointing to efforts to save jobs at U.S. Steel, pass legislation to make housing more affordable, secure $600 million to replace the Delaware River Bridge, and fund protections for Presque Isle State Park.
The Wall Street Journal report, which set off a firestorm over the weekend, alleged that Fetterman canceled a June meeting with paralyzed veterans who had traveled to Washington to see him, choosing instead to do a Fox News interview later that day. Former staffers also claimed to the paper that Fetterman had described a lengthy funeral for three slain Pennsylvania police officers as a “nonstarter.”
The allegations drew swift and widespread condemnation, with critics on both sides of the aisle slamming Fetterman’s alleged conduct as lazy and disgraceful.
Fetterman fired back Sunday in a statement to CNN, dismissing the Journal’s report as a “hit piece from disgruntled staffers.” He characterized the story as full of “lies, half-truths, innuendos, smears and anonymous” sourcing, adding that no matter how many attacks come his way, he remains proud to keep delivering for Pennsylvania.
Defending his actions, Fetterman told CNN he had privately met with the families of the slain officers and sent flowers, and later privately attended a fundraiser for those families. As for the paralyzed veterans, he offered an explanation for the missed meeting: he had intended to be there, but was home sick, throwing up, and had to ask staff to handle the meeting without him. He said he felt well enough to resume his schedule later that day.
The dueling accounts have set off a broader clash over Fetterman’s conduct in office, with Republicans like McCormick rallying to his defense even as former aides paint a starkly different picture of his engagement with constituents and colleagues.
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