DENVER-AUG. 25:MSNBC TV pundits Rachel Maddow laughs with David Gregory during a live broadcast from the 2008 Democratic National Convention on August 25, 2008. (Photo credit: Juli Hansen / Shutterstock)
Rachel Maddow drew loud cheers on “The Daily Show” Monday night when she named the moment she said Democrats’ midterm wave truly paid off politically. It came when the party’s Senate majority grew big enough that Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) no longer held the deciding vote.
Maddow, making her first appearance on the show in nearly six years, according to LateNighter, told host Jon Stewart the biggest political milestone wasn’t Democrats clinching a majority.
“Politically, though, I think it was not when Democrats got to 51 in the Senate, it was when they got to 52,” Maddow said. “Because when they got to 52, John Fetterman ceased to matter.”
The audience erupted in cheers as Stewart added: “Everybody was waiting to have a Fetterman-proof Senate.”
Democrats flipped seven Republican-held Senate seats in last week’s midterms and held 54 seats as of Thursday, giving the party room to spare on party-line votes.
Fetterman has repeatedly broken with his party, including on immigration enforcement and the U.S. war against Iran. A Quinnipiac University poll cited by CBS News Pittsburgh found 77% of Pennsylvania Republicans approved of his job performance, compared with 19% of Democrats.
Several Pennsylvania Democrats have weighed primary challenges against him in 2028, when his seat is next on the ballot. Writer and activist Ahmed Moor became the first to formally enter the race on Monday.
Maddow also told Stewart that Democrats taking over state governments would matter for people losing health insurance, pointing to Georgia, where Gov.-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms could expand Medicaid.
Maddow, whose history of the Justice Department, “Department of Fate,” came out Tuesday, used the appearance to repeat her call to impeach Attorney General Todd Blanche, along with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.