‘Elect That Big Ol’ Boy To Be Governor’: Biden Mixes Up John Fetterman, Josh Shapiro At Pennsylvania Rally

During a Tuesday rally in Pennsylvania, President Joe Biden mixed up Democratic Senate nominee John Fetterman for Democratic gubernatorial nominee Josh Shapiro.

The commander-in-chief visited Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania — near his hometown of Scranton — to discuss gun control and law enforcement. Beyond the headaches he caused residents by closing down several roads for his motorcade, Biden raised eyebrows for his muddled remarks about the candidates at the top of the Keystone State’s midterm ballot.

“Elect the attorney general to the Senate. Elect that big ol’ boy to be governor,” the commander-in-chief fumbled. Fetterman is running to replace Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA), while Shapiro is seeking to replace Governor Tom Wolf (D-PA).

Joe Biden tells Pennsylvanians to elect Josh Shapiro as senator (he’s running for governor) and to elect John Fetterman as governor (he’s running for Senate) pic.twitter.com/zDgpESfEMD

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) August 30, 2022

Pennsylvania, which Biden narrowly won in the 2020 election, includes many of the nation’s most closely watched midterm elections. After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade earlier this year, Pennsylvania — which currently has a Republican-led legislature — is likely to debate bills related to abortion following the midterms.

Democratic operatives and left-leaning media outlets have repeatedly criticized Biden for his lack of coherence in public appearances and mismanagement of the White House.

“Faced with a worsening political predicament, President Joe Biden is pressing aides for a more compelling message and a sharper strategy while bristling at how they’ve tried to stifle the plain-speaking persona that has long been one of his most potent assets,” according to a report from NBC News. “Biden is rattled by his sinking approval ratings and is looking to regain voters’ confidence that he can provide the sure-handed leadership he promised during the campaign, people close to the president say.”

“The White House launched a new push Tuesday to contain the political damage caused by inflation after President Biden complained for weeks to aides that his administration was not doing enough to publicly explain the fastest price increases in roughly four decades,” another report from The Washington Post explained.

Though his approval ratings are still underwater, Biden’s favorability recently rose six points to 44%, according to a survey from Gallup.

Both Shapiro and Fetterman are narrowly leading their Republican rivals, according to a recent poll from the Trafalgar Group. Shapiro is ahead of State. Sen. Doug Mastriano (R) by four points, while Fetterman is ahead of celebrity cardiologist Dr. Mehmet Oz by five points.

Fetterman, who served as the mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania, before starting his tenure in Harrisburg and often appears in public wearing a hoodie and basketball shorts, has nodded to drug decriminalization and publicly supported Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner — an official currently under investigation from Republican and Democratic members of the Pennsylvania House for allegedly neglecting to enforce the city’s laws.

Fetterman suffered a stroke days ahead of the primary elections and has made few public appearances in recent months. Because he has slurred, repeated himself, and lost his train of thought in the handful of general election events he has attended, much of his campaign has centered upon online trolling of Oz over his links to New Jersey and ownership of multiple properties.