WASHINGTON — As billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk praised Donald Trump at an October rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and awarded a $1 million check at a town hall in McKees Rocks later that month, he also helped former hedge fund CEO Dave McCormick oust long-term incumbent U.S. Sen. Bob Casey.

That's according to U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., who said Sunday that Musk's impact within Pennsylvania's borders went beyond Trump's victory in the most populous battleground state and affected the Senate race.

"It's rare to have a surrogate that has a lot of fanboys and is very compelling to a lot of the demographic that we are losing in, in my party and in Pennsylvania," Fetterman said on ABC's "This Week. "I really believe that it mattered. We lost Bob Casey for 15,000 votes. And yeah, I'm sure he did move the needle. That's undeniable."

He said Musk's impact went beyond that of a typical surrogate, like Fetterman was, campaigning for a favored candidate — even beyond the millions of dollars he spent on the presidential campaign. Musk contributed more than $235 million to his own super PAC, which funded a Pennsylvania statewide tour and a controversial $1 million-a-day giveaway.

"Musk and I, we're in the business, surrogacy is part of it, and sometimes it really has much of an impact," Fetterman said. "But I knew that was going to be a special one ... an endorsement and an active one, and I'm not even talking about it as a checkbook."

Fetterman also praised what he said was Trump's "singular political talent."

"You know, he had the energy and almost a sense of fearlessness to just say all those kinds of things," he said "And people, it's undeniable that it has an entertaining aspect for that, too, and just if you're not afraid to say all of those things, or, and after you survived an assassination, you literally were shot in your head and had the presence of mind to respond, you know, 'fight, fight, fight.' "

He said he disagreed with Vice President Kamala Harris' characterization of Trump, who tried to overturn the 2020 election that he lost to Joe Biden, as a "fascist."

"That's her prerogative, I mean, but, but it's not a word that I would use," Fetterman said. "Because you put a lot of Democrats, especially in my state, that I know, and I happen to love people that are going to vote for Trump, and they are not fascists. And also fascism, that's not a word that regular people, you know, use, you know? I think people are going to decide who is the candidate that's going to protect and project, you know, my version of the American way of life, and that's what happened."

Even as Fetterman was campaigning for Harris — saying he thought she would carry the state — he said there was no denying Trump's popularity among segments of Pennsylvania voters.

"If you live in Pennsylvania and you spend time in 'red county' Pennsylvania, as much as I did, the support is astonishing," he said. "I mean, I was driving home from Indiana County at nine o'clock, and there was a Trump superstore on the side of a road, nine o'clock on Friday night, and people are buying swag. And then really, that really crystallized in, at the assassination, and that was in Butler County, Western Pennsylvania, fairly close to where I live. And the day or two later, you start seeing people wearing shirts with that iconic picture. And, you know, the energy and the anger and, it's like, wow, I really thought — in fact, I thought that might be ballgame."

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