James Carville calls Sen. Fetterman a 'great backstabber,' says he 'must be dealt with'
Carville said Fetterman was one of the 'great backstabbers' in modern Democratic politics
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Democratic strategist James Carville took aim at Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., during his "Politics War Room" podcast on Thursday and said the Democratic senator had to be dealt with after the presidential election.
"One of the great backstabbers in modern Democratic politics is John Fetterman," Carville said. "But I’m going to wait ’til after the election to deal with him. But he’s somebody that must be dealt with, and must be dealt with in real terms."
Carville and his podcast co-host Al Hunt discussed Vice President Kamala Harris choosing Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate during the episode, which was reported by The Daily Caller News Foundation and by Mediaite.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Hunt said Fetterman "sandbagged" Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro in the race for Harris' vice president.
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., left, and political strategist James Carville. (Getty Images)
"And, of course, the reason he’s in the United States Senate is because of Shapiro. If you look at the Pennsylvania election returns, 2022, and you’ll get the idea of how Josh dragged this guy across the finish line," he said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fetterman made headlines recently after reportedly expressing concern over putting Shapiro on the Harris ticket. Politico reported that Fetterman's aides informed Harris' campaign about his concerns — including that Shapiro is too focused on "his own personal ambitions."
Fetterman was pressed on his reported concerns during an appearance on MSNBC on Wednesday.
Fetterman said that he "never directed anyone" on his team to go to the Harris campaign.
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Democratic strategist James Carville seen during a recent appearance on HBO's "Real Time." (Screenshot/HBO)
"I just don’t understand why we’re talking about a choice that was already made. I was very clear that the vice president is perfectly capable of picking whoever they want. They have effectively unlimited funding. She has access to every Democratic expert, and she made her choice. And that’s where we’re at right now," Fetterman said.
"And [Walz]’s right on the stage right now in Wisconsin, and why are we talking about this weird stuff? I don’t understand that."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fetterman and Carville traded barbs in December 2023 over Carville's criticisms of President Biden, who was trailing former President Trump in the polls at the time.
"There’s a whole lifetime in politics between now and next November as well. I’m not worried about that. And I’m very vocal about this, too, while there are Democrats that are being very critical about the president... I’ll use this [as] another opportunity to tell James Carville to shut the f--- up," Fetterman told Politico.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Like I said, my man hasn’t been relevant since grunge was a thing. And I don’t know why he believes it’s helpful to say these kinds of things about an incredibly difficult circumstance with an incredibly strong and decent and excellent president. I’ll never understand that," the senator said of Carville.
Fetterman's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Editor's Note: This article was updated to credit The Daily Caller News Foundation with reporting on James Carville's comments.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Responding to the Democratic lawmaker's criticisms in 2023, Carville told Fox News Digital, "I've never met this man, to be honest with you."
"But I guess he's the proclaimer of relevance in modern American politics," he added.