Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro has taken a critical tone toward maverick Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., urging him to “get back to what he was elected to do” as a Democrat.
While speaking on CNN this week, Shapiro, another rumored 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, appeared exasperated about Fetterman amid reports that he is receiving pressure to jump ship on the party.
“Look, I don’t know what Sen. Fetterman is going to do,” he told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “I know that Pennsylvanians voted for a Democrat to represent them in the United States Senate.”
“So, I think he needs to honor that and continue with his service to Pennsylvania, and, hopefully, get back to what he was elected to do and reflect the will of the people,” he added.
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Fetterman’s relationship with Shapiro has cooled since his election. The senator wrote in his book, “Unfettered,” released last November, that he and Shapiro “no longer speak” with one another. He wrote that the relationship deteriorated into an “ugliness” from which “we have never recovered.”
Fetterman has stirred up significant controversy by backing portions of President Donald Trump’s agenda. Notably, Fetterman is one of just six Democratic senators who represent states that Trump won in the 2024 election.
He was the lone Democrat to vote in favor of advancing Trump’s new pick to lead the Department of Homeland Security, former Sen. Markwayne Mullin. During the prolonged government shutdown fight last year, Fetterman voted with Republicans to reopen the government, explaining his vote was choosing “country over party.”
In 2025, he voted with Republicans about 26% of the time, according to Congress Vote Tracker.
This has left many in the Democratic Party frustrated, including Shapiro. On a recent episode of the “Talk Easy” podcast with Sam Fragoso, Shapiro asserted, “I’ve got no beef with John” but said, “John’s got a lot of questions that I think he needs to answer for the people of Pennsylvania.”
“I think there’s a lot of people who want to know kind of what happened, why he does some of the things he does,” he continued.
In February, Shapiro declined to say whether he would support Fetterman if he seeks re-election in 2028, saying, “I don’t know if he’s running for re-election. I think he needs to decide if he’s running, and then we’ll make a decision from there.”
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Shapiro is not the only major Democratic leader who has criticized Fetterman in recent months. Democratic National Committee Vice Chair Malcolm Kenyatta slammed Fetterman in April, labeling the senator “a mess.”
“Almost every day now my US Senator comes on this site to attack his constituents and many people who worked hard to elect him. Suggesting that they have ‘derangement syndrome’ for opposing this administration. You’re a mess @JohnFetterman,” Kenyatta wrote in an X post.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., has also called out Fetterman over his response to the war in Iran and said on CNN in April that he “knows better.”
This comes as Politico reported Monday that some Republicans were trying to persuade Fetterman to change his party affiliation.
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However, Fetterman told the outlet in an interview, “I’m a Democrat, and I’m staying one.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Fetterman and Shapiro for additional comment.
Fox News Digital’s Lindsay Kornick and Hanna Panreck contributed to this report.
