Inside the Josh Shapiro-John Fetterman rift that could define the future of Pennsylvania politics

John Fetterman was angry.

John Fetterman was angry.

The Democratic senator from Pennsylvania was readying to speak at a disaster response press conference in Bucks County on July 16, 2023, just hours after flooding in Upper Makefield that ultimately killed seven people. Local officials spoke for a few minutes to offer an initial update for the assembled press. Then, Gov. Josh Shapiro provided information on what his administration was doing to respond to the emergency.

After a few minutes, Shapiro tossed the microphone back to the local responders — not Fetterman. Moments later, the event wrapped without Fetterman ever speaking.

Already deeply skeptical of Shapiro, Fetterman swore off appearing at events alongside the governor going forward, as three sources familiar with the incident told NBC News. 

Fetterman went “through four or five rounds of prep on the run of show for that,” one source said. “And [Shapiro] just sidestepped it completely. After that, John [said]: ‘If there’s an event where he’s going to be there, I don’t want to do it.’”

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/rift-define-future-pennsylvania-politics-rcna165614

---