Senator John Fetterman (D-Pennsylvania), a well-known Sheetz loyalist, criticized President Biden on Thursday for visiting the convenience store chain’s main rival – Wawa.
“He *was* my president… #TeamSheetz,” Fetterman joked on X.
The 81-year-old president’s stop at the Center City Philadelphia Wawa — where he ordered an Italian hoagie and a black and white milkshake — came just a day after grabbing snacks at a Pittsburgh-area Sheetz.
Biden’s visits to Pennsylvania-based convenience stores appear to be an effort to build a coalition of support in a state where residents have strong opinions about gas station food.
In the Keystone State, the rivalry between Sheetz enthusiasts and Wawa fans is often compared to that between the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles.
“Wawa is perfectly fine if you’re 50 miles or more from a Sheetz,” Fetterman has said in the past, unconcerned about losing votes in Wawa country.
“A Wawa fan is a Pennsylvania resident who is unlucky enough to have never been to Sheetz,” the Pennsylvania Democrat also joked.
Pennsylvania, a battleground state, has 19 electoral votes up for grabs in November.
Biden, a Scranton native, has a 0.1 percentage point lead over former President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania, according to a RealClearPolitics polling average.
His convenience store visits came the same week that Trump, 77, received a warm ovation during a visit to a New York bodega.
New York Post
