# I want my fifty bucks back > **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou. > > Cite as: "I want my fifty bucks back," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/i-want-my-fifty-bucks-back/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia. *What John Kiriakou says he shouted at John Fetterman from ten rows back at an Ohio State football game, and his explanation, as a Pennsylvanian furious about the senator, of why Fetterman keeps his seat anyway.* - **Where:** An Ohio State football game - **Distance:** About ten rows - **What Kiriakou shouted:** "Fetterman, I want my 50 bucks back" - **The result:** Fetterman heard his name but not the words, and turned round each time - **Kiriakou's verdict on the senator:** "A travesty, and I'm furious about it" - **Why he says Fetterman survives:** Unbroken support from organised labour, plus Republican goodwill - **The state:** Pennsylvania, Kiriakou's own **I want my fifty bucks back** is a heckle John Kiriakou describes delivering to Senator John Fetterman, recounted on the DeProgram programme in September 2025 when a viewer asked why Fetterman was still in the Senate.[1] ## The grievance Kiriakou was asked about it as a Pennsylvanian. His verdict on Fetterman's continued service is unambiguous: *"It's a travesty, and I'm furious about it."*[2] The complaint he sets out is one of absence rather than policy, the senator, he says, does not show up to votes, does not talk, does not interact with constituents, and cannot keep staff.[1] ## The heckle The encounter itself was accidental. *"I told you I saw him at that Ohio State football game. He was like 10 rows in front of me, and I kept shouting, 'Fetterman, I want my 50 bucks back.'"*[1] The reference is to a political donation, and the delivery, in Kiriakou's account, mostly failed: *"he could hear his name, but I think because of the crowd he couldn't really hear what I was saying. So he would just turn around and go..."*, a gesture Kiriakou supplied on camera, glossed as *"oh boy, I hate that guy."*[1][3] ## Why he says Fetterman survives Having vented, Kiriakou answers the viewer's question analytically rather than angrily. *"I'll tell you why he's still in the Senate: because he has maintained the strong support of organised labour. He hasn't budged on his support for organised labour."*[2] The second half of the coalition comes from the other party. Fetterman *"has become what Republicans are now calling Donald Trump's favourite Democrat"*, and in a state *"which goes back and forth between the two parties, that's the position you want to be in."*[2] Kiriakou is explicit that his own opinion is irrelevant to the arithmetic: *"people like you and I have zero respect for the guy. But they don't care what people like you and I think. The union members are going to vote for him and Republicans are going to vote for him, and that's why he's able to do this."*[4] The question he does leave open is the fitness one: if a senator *"is mentally and emotionally unable to serve"*, the electoral explanation does not settle it.[4] ## See also - [Donald Trump](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/donald-trump) - [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) ## Sources 1. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-04), at 55:48. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IPfeItwnb4&t=3348s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-04-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 2. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-04), at 54:46. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IPfeItwnb4&t=3286s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-04-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 3. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-04), at 56:20. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IPfeItwnb4&t=3380s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-04-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 4. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-04), at 55:17. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IPfeItwnb4&t=3317s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-04-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ --- From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/i-want-my-fifty-bucks-back/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt