Fetterman breaks with Democrats after shooting scare, backs Trump on major White House project
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., broke party lines again after the close call at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner this weekend, siding with President Donald Trump's push to build a...
By Fox News · Fox News
Sen. John Fetterman , D-Pa., broke party lines again after the close call at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner this weekend, siding with President Donald Trump's push to build a ballroom at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Fetterman, who has repeatedly shown he is willing to defy his party, posted on X that he was "there front and center" at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner when the shooting occurred Saturday night. The alleged shooter, 31-year-old California resident Cole Allen, broke through multiple layers of Secret Service security at the Washington Hilton and nearly opened fire in a room where the president, vice president and other key administration and federal officials were present. "After witnessing last night," Fetterman called for people to "drop the TDS [Trump derangement syndrome] and build the White House ballroom." He said the purpose of the ballroom would be to host events "exactly like these." HOW DID SUSPECTED GUNMAN GET WEAPONS INTO CORRESPONDENTS' DINNER? EX-DETECTIVE QUESTIONS SECURITY FAILURES "We were there front and center," he wrote. "That venue wasn’t built to accommodate an event with the line of succession for the U.S. government." Though construction is continuing on the $400 million privately funded White House ballroom, the project is currently bogged down in a legal challenge by the nonprofit National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP). After the shooting, the Justice Department pressed NTHP to drop its lawsuit, citing concerns about the safety and security of the president and other key personnel. "[Y]our lawsuit puts the lives of the president, his family, and his staff at grave risk," Brett Shumate, assistant attorney general in DOJ's Civil Division, wrote in a Sunday letter to opposing counsel, shared on X by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. "Enough is enough," Shumate continued. "Your client should voluntarily dismiss this frivolous lawsuit today in light of last night's assassination attemp…