Fetterman admits Elon Musk 'attractive to a demographic' Democrats 'need' to win Pennsylvania

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., said Wednesday that Elon Musk, who has endorsed former President Trump, was an "attractive" surrogate to a demographic in Pennsylvania that Democrats need to have in order to win in November, suggesting that he could have an impact on the race.

Asked by CNN's Kaitlan Collins during an interview how much Fetterman thought Musk would affect the race in Pennsylvania, a key swing state, the Democratic senator said Musk would have a "significant" impact.

"In the business, a lot of surrogates really doesn't count for much. But Musk, it's undeniable that he's successful. He's the world's richest man, and he's been involved in a lot of important things, like SpaceX, or AI, and those things. And he has — he has a brand, and that's attractive to a demographic that we need to have, to win in Pennsylvania. And it's not even about his checkbook," Fetterman said. 

Musk appeared at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, alongside Trump earlier this month, where he told a crowd of Trump supporters that this is the "most important election of our lifetime."

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Musk posted to X that he would be speaking at a series of town hall events in the key swing state.

"I think him being an active surrogate, I think The New York Times described him as effectively living in Pennsylvania, and he's going to be showing up and going around," Fetterman added, suggesting Musk's presence would matter. 

Collins asked if he thought Democrats were underestimating Musk's influence.

"Well, I hope not. I hope not. That's why I'm talking about it. It's like, I mean, when he showed up at the Russell Building, for the AI convention, earlier, I mean, I witnessed senators, like, ‘woo-hoo, he showed up, I got to have my three minutes’ kind of a thing," Fetterman responded. 

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"So, I mean, he has a lot of appeal for people, a lot of independently-minded voters in Pennsylvania. And as far as surrogate, hey, that's definitely a significant thing for Trump having," Fetterman added.

Fetterman has said the election between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris would be a "close race."

Fox News' Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.