Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) spoke with CNN’s Manu Raju and the press on Thursday about his upcoming meeting with Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, telling reporters he’s not sure why it’s “controversial” to hear the former Fox News host out.

“Well, we’re just going to have a straight-up conversation. It’s all going to be off the record. It’s just going to be, you know, hey, I’m going to meet the guy. And honestly, I’ve never heard of him before he was nominated. So, it’s an opportunity to just have a discussion on a lot of kind of issues,” Fetterman said.

“And I suspect there’s some things we might agree on in terms of military, whether it’s China or Israel, and maybe disagree some perhaps on the Ukraine, but I think it’s an opportunity to have a conversation,” he continued.

“I don’t really — I’m not sure why it would be controversial to anybody. If he’s the individual who could potentially be the next secretary of defense, I think it’s — I mean, I’m not just the senator for Pennsylvania for my voters or Democrats, it’s for all of us,” he added, regarding the breadth of Hegseth’s responsibility should the Senate concur with his nomination.

“And now, we have received a lot of support calls into our office saying, hey, you know, we will have a conversation. So, I’m just doing my job. I see that,” Fetterman continued.

The Pennsylvania Democrat said he would be asking Hegseth about the allegations of sexual misconduct and excessive drinking but noted as well that the FBI would be vetting the nominee as well.

“Some folks on the left may say that by doing that you’re giving them a veneer of bipartisanship and you guys should be drawing better, sharper contrasts with Trump. What do you say to them?” CNN correspondent Manu Raju asked.

“Again, they’re entitled to their opinions. But, to me, I don’t know why it’s controversial to have a dialogue with the people that are going to be part of the next administration,” Fetterman responded. “Those individuals can, you know, vent or rant on Twitter. But — and I’m here to have conversations, and I think I’m just doing my job.”