Pennsylvania native and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich warned his fellow Pennsylvanians against supporting Lt. Gov. John Fetterman's U.S. Senate bid, pointing to his aversion to debating Republican Mehmet Oz and Philadelphia's crime wave under similarly liberal city leadership.
Gingrich pointed to how Fetterman's appointee to lead the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons repeatedly advocated "disarm[ing] the police" and abolishing mandatory life sentences for murderers. Fetterman appointed former Families Against Mandatory Minimums policy director Celeste Trusty to the post in January.
Gingrich, who grew up in Hummelstown, outside the capital Harrisburg, said his home state has been ravaged by dueling violent crime and drug crises.
Over Labor Day weekend in the Commonwealth's largest city, Philadelphia, officials recorded more than 30 gunshot victims and a collective 368 homicides on the year. The crisis recently led liberal Philadelphia Mayor James Kenney to tell a reporter, "I'll be happy when I'm not here, when I'm not mayor and I can enjoy some stuff."
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Gingrich said Fetterman's politics are therefore "dangerous" and will only make the situation worse in Pennsylvania if he defeats Oz.
"Biden came to Philadelphia to give a remarkably hateful speech last week. Philadelphia is on the way to setting a record for the number of murders, carjackings, armed robberies," he said.
"Fetterman has called for releasing one third of all the criminals in Pennsylvania. This is during a crime wave in both Philadelphia and Pittsburgh."
Gingrich said Fetterman, who suffered a stroke earlier this year, is unable to defend his record whether his medical condition is affecting his decision to thus-far shun debates or not.
"I think in the end, he's going to lose by a surprising margin because in the end, he is really dangerous, both for the people of Pennsylvania and for the people of the United States," the former speaker added.
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He also reacted to a new ad recounting how, as mayor of Braddock – an industrial Pittsburgh suburb – he once pulled a shotgun on an unarmed Black jogger.
"I believe I did the right thing, but I may have broken the law during the course of it," then-Mayor Fetterman said at the time.
Former Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, who is Black, criticized the incident during the Democratic primary in remarks to NBC News saying the candidate needed to "fess up" and was "not shooting straight on this, no pun intended."
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"I think this is a very clear case," Gingrich responded to the ad overall.
The former speaker added that not only does Oz have a shot at defeating Fetterman, but that there are other races in blue-trending states where Republicans have a surprising chance of victory.
He pointed to Washington, where a Trafalgar poll reflects a 3-point race between Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., in office since 1993 – and Republican newcomer Tiffany Smiley.
Retired Dallas Cowboys running back Herschel Walker is also very close to if not tied with incumbent Sen. Raphael G. Warnock, D-Ga., and Republican Joe O'Dea approaches Colorado Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet in the polls as well.
Gingrich said President Biden is likely dragging down all of the aforementioned Democratic contenders, saying they are all "part of the same machine" and engendering the same "radical ideas" that have increased crime and economic strife across the country.
