THE HILL
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), who has become an outspoken critic of Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) in recent months, presented his colleague with a challenge Friday.
“I’m daring Menedez to run for reelection,” he said Friday in an with CNN’s Jake Tapper, after backing the New Jersey senator’s 2024 primary challenger, Rep. Andy Kim (D-N.J.), earlier this week.
Fetterman was the first Democratic senator to call for Menendez to resign or be removed from his seat after he was indicted on charges of bribery over allegations that he and his wife accepted $600,000 in bribes from three businessmen in exchange for favors, and acted as a foreign agent on behalf of Egypt.
The embattled Democrat was also hit with a second second superseding indictment earlier this month, which alleges he accepted gifts from the Qatari government and helped a real estate developer obtain millions in investment funds from the Gulf country. Menendez has denied the charges.
In the wake of the news, Kim jumped into the race. Fetterman said is “enthusiastic” about the lawmaker’s background, adding that “anything would be an upgrade over Menendez.”
“One of the most important things is that we have a reliable Democratic vote,” Fetterman said Thursday in an interview with The New York Times. “We have to run this table in ’24 in order to maintain the majority. But we need to count on every Democratic vote. Andy Kim is the kind of guy we can count on.”
