John Fetterman Knows How To Do Crudités

There are many ways to figure out if a political candidate sees the world in the same way that you do. You can follow the money and see if those funding their campaign are aligned with your values. You can scroll through their social media accounts and see what issues they are vocal about and who (and how) they engage with. Or, as we learned with the most recent battle for one of Pennsylvania's coveted Senate seats, you can look at how candidates put together crudités. A tweet from newly elected John Fetterman's director of communications showing off his veggie spread might just prove to voters that they made the correct decision.

The official Merriam-Webster definition of crudités leaves a lot of room for interpretation: "pieces of raw vegetables (such as celery or carrot sticks) served as an hors d'oeuvre often with a dip." The description seems simple enough, allowing for some creativity that suggests there's no real wrong way to do crudités. But during his senate campaign, Dr. Mehmet Oz swiftly dispelled that notion.

The ridiculous performance artist that is Mehmet Oz pretends he is grocery shopping for his wife. With someone filming. pic.twitter.com/xVoWqIfH8w

— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) April 6, 2022

In a video of himself shopping for his own crudités ingredients, Dr. Oz seems to make the incorrect choice at every turn. He says the name of the store is "Wegner's," a clumsy portmanteau of Redner's and Wegmans. He calls the collection of foods crudités even though the Pennsylvania nomenclature for such a thing is "veggie tray." And the ingredients he chooses to include are a single crown of broccoli, one bundle of asparagus, a five-pound bag of carrots, guacamole, salsa, and, in a Shyamalan-esque twist, tequila.

At the time, his opponent, John Fetterman, didn't rebut with his own spread, though some official campaign merch threw shade at Oz for the gaffe. And now, thanks to communications director Joe Cavello's tweet from Fetterman's inauguration, we know that Fetterman knows how to do a veggie tray right.

Yes, there is crudités at the Fetterman inauguration. pic.twitter.com/Rwm3yofq3I

— Joe Calvello (@the_vello) January 3, 2023

The spread includes an assortment of multicolored carrots and cauliflowers, broccoli, cucumber, watermelon radishes, green beans, and zucchini—a proportionate amount of each, unlike the carrot-heavy tray Oz was allegedly preparing. While no dips are pictured, we can only assume, based on Fetterman's understanding of vegetables, that instead of guac and salsa (which are better supported by a sturdy chip) we'd see hummus and creamy dips and perhaps even some vinaigrette to drizzle atop the veggies themselves.

Not only is it a visually appealing spread, but it's also blessedly void of tequila. Pennsylvania, you can rest easy knowing that your senator serves vegetables as capably as he intends to serve the people.