John Fetterman Boasts Support from Pro-Defund the Police Hollywood Celebrities

John Fetterman, lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania and Democratic senate candidate, durin
Justin Merriman/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Jordan Dixon-Hamilton

Pennsylvania Democrat U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman is boasting about his support from pro-defund the police Hollywood celebrities one week away from midterm elections.

Fetterman, who has consistently attacked Republican Senate candidate Mehmet Oz for his status as a celebrity, is using endorsements from actress Kerry Washington and singer John Legend as part of his last-minute effort to drive voters his way.

“Kerry is on #TeamFetterman and is asking if you can Handle It + donate $10 before our final end-of-month deadline tonight,” Fetterman tweeted on Monday.

However, Washington advocated for defunding the police and called on local governments to “put resources towards community-led solutions, not a system that continues to kill us and put us in cages,” during the summer 2020 riots in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death.

Fetterman also added that he is “*so* grateful to have” Legend’s support.

Legend similarly advocated for defunding the police in the summer of 2020. Legend said, “there should be significantly fewer police” and called to “take away police funding and reroute it towards community needs.”

Washington’s and Legends’ endorsements are the latest instances of Fetterman cozying up to individuals and groups that have advocated to defund the police.

Last month, Fetterman campaigned with three pro-defund the police Philadelphia city council members, whom he hailed as “outstanding.”

In 2021, Fetterman appeared on an abolish-the-police advocacy group’s show to boast about how he expedited pardons for felons.

“If I had a couple minutes, I’d love to talk about pardons. I’m chair of the Board of Pardons and Julie’s joining us, she’s our pardons coordinator for Western Pennsylvania,” Fetterman said. “I really want to sell that, because I’m Lieutenant Governor for two more years, and we have expedited pardon processes now. And they’re free, there’s no application fee.”

Fetterman previously claimed it would “not make anyone less safe in Pennsylvania” if one-third of the state’s prison population were released back into the streets.

FILE - Dr. Mehmet Oz, Republican Senate candidate in Pennsylvania, speaks in Springfield, Pa., Sept. 8, 2022. With the fall campaign election season in high gear, Democrat John Fetterman and his Republican rival for U.S Senate, Dr. Mehmet Oz, are making a beeline for Philadelphia’s heavily populated suburbs. (AP Photo/Ryan Collerd, File)

Dr. Mehmet Oz, Republican Senate candidate in Pennsylvania, speaks in Springfield, PA, Sept. 8, 2022. (AP Photo/Ryan Collerd, File)

Fetterman, who has struggled with speech issues since having a stroke in May, debated Oz last week with the help of a closed-captioning system to help with auditory processing issues. The vast majority of viewers, 82 percent, found that Oz outperformed Fetterman in that debate.

Following Fetterman’s poor debate performance, a recent poll found that Oz has a three-point advantage over Fetterman.

Jordan Dixon-Hamilton is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jdixonhamilton@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter. 

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