Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) had a warning for Democrats at an event last week: Trump's support is strong in Pennslyvania, and Democrats may be underestimating that support.

At the Atlantic Festival in Washington, D.C., Fetterman said Democrats should not take it for granted that Vice President Kamala Harris could win the state in 2024.

Fetterman believes Trump support has increased since the assassination attempt on his life.

He joked that in 2016, Trump signs became "like the state flower" in that they are popping up everywhere around the state.

He called it

Fetterman made the point that he sensed in 2016 that Hillary Clinton was in more trouble than the polls showed at the time.

Similarly, Fetterman felt that 2020 was going to be a lot closer nationally than the polls indicated. In fact, Biden did not have the four to five-point lead polls thought he would on Election Day; instead, he barely won the race in several key states and was only up 1.2% over Trump in Pennsylvania.

While Fetterman previously said that Pennsylvania would be close, but that he thought Harris would win over Trump, his tone seems to have shifted as the election draws closer.

“I maintain that there’s nothing we as Democrats can say or do that Trump hasn’t already defiled himself with,” he remarked. “People understand who he is, and enough think that’s a feature, not a bug.” 

What about this time?

While Fetterman's supposed past inklings about how the elections would go seem to give him credibility in 2024, he has also said things that might give people more pause.

Before Biden stepped down from his re-election bid in July, for instance, Fetterman said he thought Biden could win Pennsylvania even though he was five points behind Trump in state polling at the time.

While Fetterman is handwringing about a potential Harris loss in Pennsylvania, he might have had a hand in it if she does lose.

He lobbied hard against Harris picking Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro as her running mate, even though doing so would have given her a better chance to win in the state.

Too late

It's entirely likely that the whole race could rest on Pennsylvania, which makes the decision not to team up with Shapiro one that could have grave consequences for Harris.

It's probably a little bit late to ring alarm bells now.