Fetterman calls Shapiro too driven by "political ambition" in new book

• Fetterman's book, "Unfettered," which was released Tuesday, could deepen years-long divisions between the two most powerful Democrats in the nation's biggest battleground state ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
• The senator's attacks are likely to be used by Shapiro's political opponents in the future to try to undermine him on his left flank.

Zoom in: Over two chapters in his book, Fetterman details how his relationship with Shapiro devolved into an "ugliness between us — from which we have never recovered."

Fetterman describes being so frustrated with Shapiro's decisions on Pennsylvania's Board of Pardons — where they both had the power to grant mercy to inmates — that he called Shapiro a "f***ing a**hole" on a hot microphone.

• At the time, Fetterman was a liberal darling who believed in expanding commutations in his role as lieutenant governor. Shapiro, Pennsylvania's attorney general then, was less lenient.
• "I truly believed with all my heart that nobody I ever supported for a pardon was a danger to society," Fetterman writes, "and I was willing to stake my political career on it."
• "Shapiro," he says, "was far more cautious, and at a certain point, I began to think that what was influencing him was not mere caution but political ambition."

Friction point: The biggest clash between Fetterman and Shapiro was over the case of two brothers, Dennis and Lee Horton, who served nearly three decades for a robbery and a fatal shooting they said they didn't commit.

• Law enforcement officials supported the brothers' release and described them as model inmates. When their clemency applications came up for a vote in December 2019, Fetterman backed them and Shapiro opposed them.
• "I don't think Shapiro felt the Hortons were a danger to the public at that point," Fetterman writes. "His hesitancy was more a matter of optics and fear that their release might be a terrible mistake and come back to haunt him."
• Shapiro eventually backed the brothers' release.

The other side: A spokesperson for Shapiro declined to comment.

Zoom out: The two politicians first met when Fetterman was mayor of the blue-collar town of Braddock and Shapiro was a state lawmaker from the Philadelphia suburbs.

• Even at the start of their parallel careers, Fetterman writes, "you could just tell Shapiro was on the move. As [former] Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter once put it, 'Everybody knows that Josh has wanted to be governor since he was in fifth grade.' "

• Fetterman describes going to great lengths to support Shapiro's bid for attorney general, saying he "worked Western Pennsylvania for him" and warned Shapiro that two of his opponents were allegedly colluding.
• When Fetterman ran for lieutenant governor, "I was hoping Shapiro would endorse me, given what I had done for him. He did not."

The intrigue: Fetterman, who collaborated on his book with Pulitzer Prize winner Buzz Bissinger, oscillates between questioning Shapiro's motivations and taking a more conciliatory tone.

• "I ... believe Shapiro did what he felt was right. Our dispute was philosophical," he wrote of their disagreements on the Board of Pardons.

Zoom out: Fetterman has long held presidential ambitions, according to people who know him, and some Democrats think his anger toward Shapiro has been driven partly by that.

• In the book Fetterman also details his mental health struggles, his life-threatening stroke and his election to the Senate in 2022.
• After initially casting himself as a major opponent of President Trump, Fetterman has softened his posture. Top Democrats in Pennsylvania are now maneuvering to challenge Fetterman in the 2028 primary.
• Fetterman's time in the Senate also has been marked by a great deal of staff turnover.

The bottom line: Fetterman winds up calling Shapiro "a bright star in the Democratic Party" and writes, "I sincerely wish him the best ... even if we no longer speak."