Prominent Democrat John Fetterman endorses three of Trump’s cabinet picks

The outspoken Pennsylvania Senator has said he supports Elise Stefanik as UN Ambassador, Marco Rubio as Secretary of State and Dr Mehmet Oz

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Prominent Democrat John Fetterman, a vocal critic of his party’s election strategy, has endorsed a handful of Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees.
The outspoken Pennsylvania Senator has said he supports Elise Stefanik as UN Ambassador, Marco Rubio as Secretary of State and said he would vote for TV personality Dr Mehmet Oz to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
Mr Fetterman also said he would vote to confirm the cabinet position of his former opponent Dr Oz, who ran against him for his senate seat in the 2022 midterms.
During the race, Mr Fetterman teased Dr Oz for not living in Pennsylvania and mocked him for complaining about the cost of crudites.
Responding to Mr Trump’s appointment of Dr Oz, Mr Fetterman said if he is “about protecting and preserving Medicare and Medicaid, I’m voting for the dude.”
Dr Oz has previously courted controversy for recommending various alternative medicines for health conditions, including umckaloabo root extract for cold symptoms, green coffee extract as a “magic weight loss cure” and raspberry ketones as a “miracle in a bottle to burn your fat”.
Mr Fetterman also said that he “looks forward” to voting for Ms Stefanik to “continue a strong and unapologetic pro-Israel position”.
When pro-Palestine protesters demonstrated outside his home earlier and accused him of “supporting genocide”, Mr Fetterman stood on his roof waving an Israel flag.
Ms Stefanik played a crucial role in grilling several Ivy League university presidents about antisemitism on campus during a congressional hearing.
Responding to a UN special committee report which claimed that “the policies and practices of Israel during the reporting period are consistent with the characteristics of genocide”, Mr Fetterman wrote on social media: “What’s actually consistent is UN’s rank, pervasive antisemitism. I reject this report in its entirety.”
Mr Fetterman also said Mr Trump’s selection of Mr Rubio for Secretary of State was “a strong choice”.
“Unsurprisingly, the other team’s pick will have political differences than my own”, Mr Fetterman said.
He added: “That being said, my colleague @‌SenMarcoRubio is a strong choice and I look forward to voting for his confirmation”.
Several Democrat Senators have approved of Mr Trump’s appointment of Mr Rubio.
Mark R Warner, who serves as the chairman of the intelligence committee, described the Florida senator as “smart, talented” and said he will “be a strong voice for American interests around the globe.”
Democrat senators Cory Booker and Mark Kelly also supported Mr Trump’s pick.
Jared Moskowitz, a Democrat congressman who has accused members of his party of antisemitism, praised Mr Trump’s pick of Ms Stefanik, Mike Waltz as national security advisor and described Susie Wiles as one of the “greatest campaign strategists”.
Mr Fetterman, once a star of the progressive arm of the Democrats, has in recent months emerged as one of the party’s key moderate voices.
“I love people that are absolutely going to vote for Trump”, he said, when asked about Kamala Harris referring to Mr Trump as a “fascist”.
He told Politico: “They’re not fascists. They’re not those things…. Scolding harder or clutching the pearls harder, that’s never going to work for Democrats”.
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