Ever since the election two months ago, John Fetterman has become the most famous lieutenant governor in these United States. He may be a burly beast built like Thanos, but he fights for the side of good, ridiculing Trump’s lies, taunting Republicans whose allegations of voter fraud wound up involving Republican voters, even daring the powers-that-be to take down the pride flags he has flying on state grounds. All that made the news on Tuesday even more disturbing.
As per The Philadelphia Inquirer, the state’s Republican lawmakers refused to seat a new Democratic senator, Jim Brewster, who’d narrowly defeated challenger Nicole Ziccarelli. There was much rancor. There was shouting between Republicans and Fetterman, who was presiding over the session. And after an hour Republicans had voted to remove Fetterman from his spot at the rostrum, even escorting him out of the chamber after he refused to leave.
Pennsylvania Republicans had already tried to contest the senator’s win. As per the Inquirer:
“Brewster narrowly won reelection over Republican challenger Nicole Ziccarelli, who is asking a federal judge to throw out the election results. At the heart of that legal dispute is several hundred mail ballots that lacked a handwritten date on an outer envelope, as required by state law. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court allowed those ballots to be counted, which gave Brewster the edge in the race.”
But even though Brewster’s re-election had already been certified by the state, Republicans simply refused to acknowledge their defeat. For now, at least, Brewster will have to be wait to be sworn in, while Republicans insist they receive more court time on a case they already lost.
If this sounds familiar, it should. Pennsylvania lawmakers condemned the Republicans’ gambit, with Senate Majority Leader Jay Costa calling their ploy right out of “the Trump playbook.” Governor Tom Wolfe called it “simply unethical and undemocratic,” adding, Republicans in Pennsylvania and nationally have spread disinformation and used it to subvert the democratic process.”
The outspoken Fetterman predictably did not mince words, saying, “This was a corruption of the fundamental democratic franchise in our state.” In any case, buckle in, everyone, the next couple weeks will be a bumpy — or even bumpier, somehow — ride.