Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
23 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2022/apr/06/penn-progress/no-evidence-fetterman-is-democratic-socialist/
NPR retracted its description
The ad cites NPR for this claim. On Nov. 28, 2020, NPR broadcast a story about Fetterman in which the reporter called Fetterman a "self-described democratic socialist." On Dec. 6, 2021, NPR attached a correction: "This story wrongly states that Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman is a ‘self-described democratic socialist.’ He is not." The same day the super PAC’s ad was released, lawyers for Fetterman and his campaign called on television stations to take down the ad, calling it false and defamatory. "Fetterman has never described himself as a ‘democratic socialist,’" their letter said. The letter referred to the NPR story and the correction. Fetterman’s campaign announced the same day that a Philadelphia TV station had taken down the ad.
We reached out to Penn Progress but did not hear back. Politico reporter Holly Otterbein tweeted that she asked the group for evidence to back its claim. Otterbein wrote that the PAC referred her to a 2016 article in Public Opinion, a Pennsylvania newspaper, and a 2021 article in Forbes that called Fetterman a self-described democratic socialist, but no articles in which he’s quoted calling himself one. Both articles used the phrase, "self-described democratic socialist." On April 6, the Forbes article was updated: "Correction: This story had incorrectly identified Fetterman as a ‘democratic socialist’ — he is not."
Lamb also used socialist tag
Politico reported in December that Lamb referred to Fetterman as a socialist, but Lamb’s campaign did not provide any evidence. On April 3, after a debate that Fetterman did not attend, Lamb said, according to the Washington Post: "The socialist label sticks on John because of the policies he actually has advocated and the people like Bernie Sanders that he has actively campaigned with." Fetterman endorsed Sanders in Sanders’ 2016 presidential run. In 2016, an interviewer asked Fetterman: "You are very progressive, I think — I could be wrong but you label yourself as a democratic socialist?"
snip
40 seconds into the video below:
Fetterman replied: "No, I don’t label myself a democratic socialist, but I certainly ran the most progressive campaign in my race this past spring."
snip
Fetterman did not endorse Sanders in 2020 btw, he endorsed Biden
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Joe_Biden_2020_presidential_campaign_endorsements#State_Department_officials
NPR retracted its description
The ad cites NPR for this claim. On Nov. 28, 2020, NPR broadcast a story about Fetterman in which the reporter called Fetterman a "self-described democratic socialist." On Dec. 6, 2021, NPR attached a correction: "This story wrongly states that Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman is a ‘self-described democratic socialist.’ He is not." The same day the super PAC’s ad was released, lawyers for Fetterman and his campaign called on television stations to take down the ad, calling it false and defamatory. "Fetterman has never described himself as a ‘democratic socialist,’" their letter said. The letter referred to the NPR story and the correction. Fetterman’s campaign announced the same day that a Philadelphia TV station had taken down the ad.
We reached out to Penn Progress but did not hear back. Politico reporter Holly Otterbein tweeted that she asked the group for evidence to back its claim. Otterbein wrote that the PAC referred her to a 2016 article in Public Opinion, a Pennsylvania newspaper, and a 2021 article in Forbes that called Fetterman a self-described democratic socialist, but no articles in which he’s quoted calling himself one. Both articles used the phrase, "self-described democratic socialist." On April 6, the Forbes article was updated: "Correction: This story had incorrectly identified Fetterman as a ‘democratic socialist’ — he is not."
Lamb also used socialist tag
Politico reported in December that Lamb referred to Fetterman as a socialist, but Lamb’s campaign did not provide any evidence. On April 3, after a debate that Fetterman did not attend, Lamb said, according to the Washington Post: "The socialist label sticks on John because of the policies he actually has advocated and the people like Bernie Sanders that he has actively campaigned with." Fetterman endorsed Sanders in Sanders’ 2016 presidential run. In 2016, an interviewer asked Fetterman: "You are very progressive, I think — I could be wrong but you label yourself as a democratic socialist?"
snip
40 seconds into the video below:
Fetterman replied: "No, I don’t label myself a democratic socialist, but I certainly ran the most progressive campaign in my race this past spring."
snip
Fetterman did not endorse Sanders in 2020 btw, he endorsed Biden
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Joe_Biden_2020_presidential_campaign_endorsements#State_Department_officials
Thanks for the details about the Fetterman attacks...
His pre-primary ads are geared towards the PA voters, of course.
He's got several good ads running in the Pittsburgh area.
