Sunny Hostin calls out John Fetterman for siding with GOP on shutdown vote: 'Why give in now?'

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: ‘The View’ co-host Sunny Hostin slammed Sen John Fetterman, D-Pa, on Tuesday, November 11, for his vote to end the government shutdown, accusing him of bringing a "butter knife to a gunfight."

The discussion centered on Fetterman’s decision to side with Republicans and seven other Democrats to end the 41-day shutdown, a move that has drawn criticism from some within his own party.

Sunny Hostin challenges John Fetterman over shutdown vote 

Sunny Hostin pushed back on Senator John Fetterman’s decision to vote to end the government shutdown, citing criticisms from Sen Bernie Sanders, I-Vt, and Gov Gavin Newsom, D-Calif, who both opposed the move. Hostin also noted that Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga, had "blamed the GOP" for the shutdown.

Hostin pointed out that Democrats had recently come off a series of election wins and had the momentum before asking, "Why give in now? Why bring a butter knife to a gunfight? Are you willing to gamble that the GOP will negotiate on healthcare in good faith once the government reopens? Because if that gamble is wrong, half a million Pennsylvanians that you represent, their healthcare costs will skyrocket if you are wrong," adding, "I believe you are wrong." 

Fetterman was one of eight senators — including Sens Angus King, I-Maine; Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev; Jeanne Shaheen, D-NH; Maggie Hassan, D-NH; Jacky Rosen, D-Nev; Tim Kaine, D-Va; and Dick Durbin, D-Ill, who voted for the updated Continuing Resolution (CR) to end the shutdown.

Hostin also criticized the Democratic Party for backing the measure, suggesting that Sen Chuck Schumer’s days were "over" and that he needed to be replaced. 

John Fetterman hits back at bipartisan criticism

Senator John Fetterman responded by rejecting criticism of his vote to end the government shutdown. He strongly dismissed Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene’s position, saying, "MTG is quite literally the last person in America that I'm going to take advice or to get their kinds of my leadership and values from. Now, if Democrats are celebrating crazy pants like that, then that's on them."

Fetterman also said he didn’t need a "lecture from, whether it's Bernie or the governor in California, because they are representing very deep-blue kinds of populations and a lot of those things were part of the extreme."

He added that he preferred to quote Virginia Gov-elect Abigail Spanberger, who argued that recent Democratic election wins should not be seen as a reason to continue the shutdown.

During the interview, Fetterman maintained that the shutdown itself was fundamentally wrong and that he refused to use essential services as a political weapon.  

John Fetterman defends shutdown vote, says Americans’ needs outweigh politics

The senator, a Democrat, argued that his primary concern was the harm the shutdown caused to the American people.

He cited the potential chaos and suffering it created, saying, "Forty-two million Americans now are not sure where their next meal is going to come from, and because we vote like that. Or people that haven't been paid for five weeks now, and that kinds of chaos. Those workers borrow more than half a billion dollars from their credit union just to pay their bills."

Fetterman said he refused to use essential services as a political weapon: "I refuse to weaponize the SNAP benefit for 42 million Americans that rely on feeding themselves and their family, or making flying in America, you know, less safe, or I refuse not to pay our military and all of the unions attached to all of this, and people. So for me it's like I don't agree with that tactic to respond to circumstances that we're confronting on this."