Democratic candidate for U.S Senate in Pennsylvania and the state’s current Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, fired back at Tucker Carlson on Sunday after the Fox News host mocked his tattoos earlier this month.
During his September 7th opening monologue, Carlson attempted to portray Fetterman as weak on crime while mocking his “stupid little tattoos,” calling them a “costume” and declaring that they are not real.
In a NBC News op-ed published on Sunday, Fetterman explained why his tattoos are not a “costume” and revealed a deeper meaning behind them.
“I have nine dates tattooed on my right forearm. Each one is a day on which someone died violently in Braddock, Pennsylvania, while I was mayor,” Fetterman wrote. “They are not some “costume.” They are reminders of the people we have lost and what I am fighting for. Both the dates on my right arm and the “15104” on my left — Braddock’s ZIP code — are personal to me. “
“Gun violence and violent crime might be a joke to someone like Carlson, but they are very real to people in towns like Braddock,” he added.
Fetterman wrote about some of the victims’ stories including the father of a 12-year-old girl who was shot while delivering pizzas and a 23-month-old baby who was sexually assaulted by her father and left to die in the cold.
“My decision to mark these deaths with tattoos was inspired in part by their permanence — the fact that these people, their stories and my town will be with me forever,” Fetterman wrote. “I get that etching art permanently onto your body isn’t how most politicians would express their connection to their communities. But I didn’t care about what anyone else thought. It felt right to me.”
Fetterman said he was a very “hands-on” mayor who worked closely with the police to ensure that they get the resources they need to do their jobs effectively. He also worked to get young people off the streets through programs like the Braddock Youth Project that encourages them to give back to their community.
Fetterman is running against celebrity TV doctor Mehmet Oz to fill the seat left by retiring Republican senator Pat Toomey.
Fetterman took a shot at Oz in Sunday’s op-ed writing: “While he was making millions of dollars peddling miracle cures from a TV studio in Manhattan and living in a mansion on a hill in New Jersey, I was rolling up my sleeves and putting in the work to make my community safer. I’m the only candidate in this race who has fought violent crime and won.”
