Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, a Democrat who has often broken with his party’s leadership, reportedly sharply criticized his colleagues on Thursday for focusing their outrage on the suspension of late-night host Jimmy Kimmel rather than the more pressing threat of a government shutdown.
With federal funding set to expire on September 31, Democrats spent much of the day denouncing ABC’s decision to take Jimmy Kimmel Live off the air after the comedian suggested, without evidence, that the suspect in conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination was a Trump supporter. Fetterman dismissed those complaints as misplaced.
“Everything is turning into like a national freak out,” Fetterman told the DCNF. “If a late night host got put on hiatus, if that’s a national freak out, then if we shut our government down, that’s a serious national freak out kind of a thing.”
Calling a shutdown “reckless,” Fetterman urged his party to stop inflaming tensions with Republicans and instead focus on keeping the government running. “I don’t think we need that [a shutdown] right now,” he said. “It’s wrong.”
His remarks contrasted with the posture of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who framed Kimmel’s suspension as part of a broader campaign by President Trump and his appointees to silence critics. “This is an assault on everything this country has stood for since the Constitution’s been signed,” Schumer said at a press conference, tying the incident to what he described as Trump’s “unending crusade” against political enemies.
Top Democrats went further, calling for the resignation of Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr and announcing a congressional probe into Kimmel’s suspension. House Oversight ranking member Robert Garcia said the inquiry would look into whether federal officials pressured ABC’s decision.
But Fetterman, known for his blunt style, dismissed such rhetoric. “I’m just tired of squaring up on everything,” he said. “People need to just chill a little about a lot of things.”
After a meeting with Senate Democrats, Fetterman told reporters he intended to support Republicans’ short-term spending measure, known as a continuing resolution, despite opposition from party leaders. He described the Democratic strategy of linking funding to priorities such as extending Affordable Care Act subsidies as “unproductive.”
“America would be a serious loser if we shut our government down,” he said. While calling ACA subsidies important, he stressed that a “clean CR” would have his backing. “I don’t know where the math will be, but I know where my vote will be.”
Fetterman also rejected arguments from Democrats like Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, who said funding the government would mean supporting “the destruction of our democracy” under Trump. “If you really believe we’re moving toward autocracy, why would you then now shut our government down and hand them the entire keys to control it,” Fetterman countered. “That’s reckless and dangerous. And I will refuse to ever vote for that.”
“After [Charlie] Kirk and a lot of the other things, I don’t think we need more chaos,” Fetterman added.
[READ MORE: House Narrowly Blocks GOP Effort to Censure Rep. Ilhan Omar Over Post on Charlie Kirk]
