Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman is warning fellow Democrats not to dismiss Elon Musk’s support for former President Trump in the Keystone State.
Nineteen Electoral College votes are at stake in Pennsylvania on Nov. 5 and the state is rated a toss up by Fox News’ Power Rankings.
With both Trump and Vice President Harris fiercely competing there, and the winner likely to take the White House, the plain-dressed and plainspoken Fetterman told the New York Post in an interview that “Musk is a concern.”
“Not even just that he has endorsed [Trump], but the fact that now he’s becoming an active participant and showing up and doing rallies and things like that,” Fetterman said, explaining that the enormously successful Tesla and SpaceX CEO is an attractive figure for the kinds of voters Harris needs to win.
“I mean, [Musk] is incredibly successful, and, you know, I think some people would see him as, like, a Tony Stark,” said Fetterman, referencing the popular Marvel Comics character. “Democrats, you know, kind of make light of it, or they make fun of him jumping up and down and things like that. And I would just say that they are doing that at our peril.”
Elon Musk speaks as part of a campaign town hall in support of Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump in Folsom, Pa., Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Musk, the world’s richest man, has described himself as a centrist and voted for Democrats in the past. He has since stated in various social media posts that the Democratic Party has drifted too leftward, embracing what he calls the “woke mind virus.”
He appeared at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, alongside Trump earlier this month, where he told a crowd of Trump supporters that this is the “most important election of our lifetime.”
Musk also posted on X that he would be speaking at a series of town hall events in the battleground state through the weekend.
Additionally, the billionaire has put his money where his mouth is, donating $75 million to a pro-Trump super PAC, which focuses on voter turnout.
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Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump hugs Elon Musk at a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Fetterman, who at times has clashed with the progresive wing of his party, told the Post that while he is not in a panic over 2024, the election in Pennsylvania is “going to be ridiculously close.”
“Trump has a connection that’s undeniable. And anyone that spends any time across Pennsylvania can see that kind of devotion and that’s why it’s going to be very close,” Fetterman said, “Pennsylvania picks the president.”
Fetterman had stood solidly behind President Biden while other Democrats sought to drive the president out of the 2024 race after his widely-panned debate performance against Trump in June. He maintains that Biden would be competitive with Trump had he not withdrawn.
“I’d like to remind everybody that Biden is the only person that’s ever beaten Trump,” Fetterman said,
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Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., walks through the Senate subway in the Capitol after a vote on Wednesday, May 15, 2024.
He described the effort to put Biden out to pasture as “a total blowtorch.”
“You had the Democratic side, you have the ongoing, right wing media, and then the celebrities got involved in it as well, too. And then the New York Times became the, ‘he’s got to go’ outlet throughout all that as well.”
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Fetterman emphasized that he fully supports Harris now and believes she can win Pennsylvania.
“Harris could not have run a better campaign than she has so far right now,” he told the Post.
Fox News Digital’s Hanna Panreck contributed to this report.