On Friday, US Senator John Fetterman, D-Penn., appeared on ABC’s ‘The View’ and called for the expulsion of Senator Bob Menendez, D-N.J., from the U.S. Senate. He said that Menendez was more of a “Senator from Egypt, not New Jersey,” because of his involvement in a bribery scheme.
Fetterman, who is a new senator from Pennsylvania, made this statement about the recent removal of Rep. George Santos, D-N.Y., from the House of Representatives.
Santos faced expulsion by a vote of 311 to 114 on the House floor Friday morning due to his indictment on 23 charges encompassing wire fraud, identity theft, record falsification, and credit card fraud. He allegedly used his campaign funds to buy luxury items and services, such as botox. He has denied the charges.
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“How can you allow somebody like Menendez”
Joy Behar, one of the co-hosts of ‘The View’, asked Fetterman about his opinion on Santos’ expulsion. Fetterman said, “Well, I’m not surprised,” and then shifted his focus to Menendez.
He said, “But to me, I think the more important picture is that we have a colleague in the Senate that has actually did more sinister and serious kinds of things. Senator Menendez. He needs to go!”
Fetterman compared the two cases and argued that Menendez’s actions were worse than Santos’. He said, “And if you are going to expel Santos, how can you allow somebody like Menendez to remain in the Senate?”
The Pennsylvania senator added, “And you know, Santos’ lies were almost funny, and like he, you know, landed on the moon. That kinda stuff. Whereas, you know, Menendez I think is really a Senator for Egypt, not New Jersey.”
Fetterman was referring to the federal charges that Menendez faces for accepting bribes from three businessmen since 2018. The bribes included cash, gold, a Mercedes-Benz, and other valuable items. In return, Menendez agreed to use his power and influence to help the businessmen and the Egyptian government.
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Notably, Fetterman is among the 14 Senate Democrats who have urged Menendez to resign.
“So I really think he needs to go, and uh, especially it’s kind of strange that if Santos is not allowed to remain in the House, you know, someone like that…” Fetterman concluded his remarks on ‘The View’.