Sen. John Fetterman‘s unimpressed, comic reaction to the threat of impeachment leveled against President Biden by MAGA adherents in the House of Representatives is going viral.
Fetterman’s faux-spooked “oh my gosh, oh it’s devastating… don’t do it” reaction might actually be good political advice for the Republicans, but what Fetterman means by his exaggerated comic reply is that the unending MAGA gamesmanship in service of Donald Trump‘s desires — instead of in service to the American people — has grown too tiresome to dignify with a serious response, and so disingenuous that it doesn’t compel any more thought than he demonstrates giving it.
“Oooh don’t do it, please don’t do it, oh no, oh no!” Fetterman cackles.
Fetterman’s stark refusal to dignify what the House is presenting as a grave measure is, it turns out, a recipe for instant gold on social media. The Senator is currently a top trending topic on X.
Oh my God. John Fetterman just humiliated Republicans over their impeachment threat.
— No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen (@NoLieWithBTC) September 12, 2023
This is incredible. (@lizbrownkaiser) pic.twitter.com/UVsHkWaRO1
Whereas Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-MD) issued a rational, reasoned, enraged and excoriating dismissal of Speaker House Kevin McCarthy‘s bumbling acquiescence to Trump and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Fetterman simply mocked the machinations of a GOP under the thumb of its most extreme members. And mockery, for better or worse, is the coin of the internet realm, reaching more hearts and minds than Raskin’s lawyerly refutations.
Fetterman is also in the political position to pull off just this kind of response, as he has faced down numerous crises since he’s been in the Senate, including winning a battle with depression that was scary by definition. (He checked into Walter Reed Medical Center to recover, before emerging with a clean bill of health.)
Having faced down darkness visible — as the writer William Styron famously called depression — Fetterman apparently doesn’t find scary the insubstantial threat of an impeachment inquiry dictated by Trump to his MAGA adherents in the House of Representatives. “Oh my god, nooooo….”
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