Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor says he didn’t start the war of the Philly cheesesteaks, but he sure as heck is not going to let New Jersey lay claim to having the best.

“You can argue about which Philly cheesesteak is better but to argue it’s from outside of Philly, that’s heretical," Lt. Gov. John Fetterman told PennLive on Monday.

In a series of good-natured tweets with New Jersey’s official twitter account that began Sunday evening, Fetterman engaged in some trash-talking in defense of the sandwich that has long been a Philadelphia icon. It didn’t take long before he had an army of Tweeters chiming in to support him.

Hey boss, you believe the nerve of that state?? @GovernorTomWolf https://t.co/YK06nSiYsd — John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) January 20, 2020

Fetterman said he made an off-hand comment about Sheetz being better than Wawa and from there it spun into a whole comedic banter with others chiming in about not only cheesesteaks but about the convenience store chains. Then he went on the attack on both fronts in the same tweet.

me rn vs team wawa AND now @NJGov in cheesesteak war pic.twitter.com/Mu1WclYLrn — John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) January 20, 2020

One of Fetterman’s followers made a point of mentioning the findings of Los Angeles writer Matt Shirley’s map of “every state’s least favorite state,” based on a poll of Shirley’s Instagram followers, with Pa. hating N.J., while New Jersey “hates everyone”.

This map is particularly relevant rn — John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) January 20, 2020

A New York City police officer chimed in that New Jersey tried to pull a stunt similar to the cheesesteak war of words with the Empire State over pizza.

“They tried this game last week with NY... Don’t fall into their trap! Watch out @delaware_gov you’re prob next.” Fetterman replied with a Homer Simpson gif, adding, “Thanks for the head up, but they had to bring cheesesteaks into this,”

Thanks for the head up, but they had to bring cheesesteaks into this. pic.twitter.com/jquZSH1E3D — John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) January 20, 2020

It became clear throughout this entire exchange that when it comes to laying claim to the best Philly cheesesteaks, you don’t play with this man’s sandwich.

Where are the PA Militia applications? 👀 It’s go time! — Badkins (@BrianLikesTwits) January 20, 2020

Asked on Monday about the series of tweets that entertained and drew in many other Twitter users, Fetterman said it was all just good-natured fun. He said he’s seeing more of this kind of repartee on official government websites where people “can have a little more fun and not be so staid. So I had fun with it.”

Still, Fetterman said he has never eaten a Philly cheesesteak in Jersey. After this exchange, he might want to keep it that way.

Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy.

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