Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman is facing criticism after calling Green Party voters "dips***s."
The remark came after more than 65,000 people voted for Green Party candidate Leila Hazou in the Pennsylvania Senate elections on Tuesday, amounting to 1 percent of the vote in the state, according to NBC News exit polls. The survey shows the Pennsylvania Senate race is too close to call, with Republican candidate Dave McCormick on 49 percent, while incumbent Senator Bob Casey is on 48.4 percent.
The Associated Press called the Pennsylvania Senate race for McCormick on Thursday, however, prompting criticism from Fetterman. "We still have tens of thousands of votes to be counted across the Commonwealth," Fetterman said in a post on X. "@AP_Politics shouldn't make a call in this race until every Pennsylvanian has their vote counted." Senator Bob Casey has said he will not concede until every vote is counted.
Following his Thursday remarks, Fetterman said in another post on X on Thursday that Pennsylvania "is going to count every last vote," and also hit out at Green Party supporters in Pennsylvania.
"That's not controversial—that's the law," the post added. "Also, Green dips***s' votes helping elect the GOP," he wrote.
Fetterman's post prompted significant backlash, including from Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk. "Calling Green voters "dips***s" is not a great way to win them over," he wrote.
Musk has been a vocal supporter of Donald Trump through this election, appearing at campaign events with him and donating more than $119 million to fund a Super PAC aimed at re-electing him.
Meanwhile, Republican House candidate Daniel Bocic Martinez, who lost the race for California's 31st Congressional District to his Democratic challenger, wrote: "Those are your constituents you're denigrating."
Conservative activist Scott Presler added: "I think Green Party voters are going to remember you calling them names when you're running for re-election. Probably not the smartest choice. We'll be sure to remind them."
With more than 65,000 votes, Hazou has almost double the roughly 33,000 vote margin between Casey and McCormick.
Democrats have often had a contentious relationship with the Green Party, accusing them of taking away their votes.
In a statement, the Associated Press said they called the race for McCormick because there are "not enough" votes for Casey in areas supporting him.
"McCormick was leading by more than 30,000 votes when AP called the race at 4:09 p.m., and though there were an estimated 91,000 votes still outstanding, there were not enough in areas supporting Casey for him to make up the difference," the outlet said.
If the race remains within less or equal to 0.5 percent, it would trigger an automatic recount under state law, but candidates can also request a recount with no requirement for a specific margin.
A McCormick victory would add to the GOP's majority in the Senate, which they won control of from Democrats this week. As of Friday, Republicans have 53 seats in the Senate, having gained four seats, while Democrats currently hold 43 seats, including those who caucus with the party.
In an interview on Fox News shortly after the AP called the race, McCormick said there was "no mathematical path" for Casey to win.
"Listen, I lost an election by 900 votes... so I know Senator Casey's got to process this," he said. "He's been in elected office for 30 years. His family's had a great history of public service, and so you know he's going to have to find his way to the right answer. But I think the math is indisputable, and I think that's why the AP called it and why we're confident moving forward to start preparing to be the next senator from Pennsylvania."
But in a statement shared on social media by ABC producer Bob Siegel, Casey said: "I have dedicated my life to making sure Pennsylvanians' voices are heard, whether on the floor of the Senate or in a free and fair election.
"It has been made clear there are more than 100,000 votes still to be counted. Pennsylvania is where our democratic process was born. We must allow that process to play out and ensure that every vote that is eligible to be counted will be counted. That is what Pennsylvania deserves."
Newsweek has contacted Fetterman and Hazou for comment via email.
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