Sen. John Fetterman has been a Democrat all of his political life but the party continues to shift to the hard left, leaving him wondering if he has a future there.
He made that abundantly clear again on Friday in a social media post excoriating the rising hard-left ‘democratic’ socialists.
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“Israel keeps killing Hamas members. @DemSocialists, cry harder,” he wrote in an X post tagging the Democratic Socialists of America.
His post came after the Israeli Defense Forces posted they had eliminated several Hamas terrorists.
“ELIMINATED: Abdallah Jahja, a terrorist in the Naval Force of Hamas’ military wing who infiltrated Israeli territory during the October 7 Massacre,” the IDF’s post stated.
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The post added that “2 additional Hamas terrorists were eliminated,” including “Mohammed Al-Hawari, a cell commander in Hamas’ Zeitoun Battalion” and “Sabhi Saqallah, observation operative in Hamas’ Zeitoun Battalion.”
“The terrorists advanced terror attacks targeting IDF troops & Israeli civilians,” the IDF added.
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Fetterman told Fox News Channel’s Kayleigh McEnany last week that “these DSA people are deeply anti-Israel” as well as “deeply anti-America.”
The Pennsylvania lawmaker added that he “will always be the last man standing within the Democratic caucus in the Senate that’s pro-unapologetically standing for Israel.”
“Israel is our special ally, and I’m always proud to stand with Israel,” he said.
Fetterman’s emerging independent streak on the political stage is raising eyebrows among his Senate colleagues and giving fodder to his progressive critics, sparking speculation about whether he might exit the Democratic Party.
Last week, Fetterman said he would formally change his affiliation if opposition to Israel becomes an official part of the Democratic Party’s platform.
It is the first time he has laid out a scenario under which he would leave.
Fetterman’s colleagues are skeptical he can win a Democratic primary. One Democratic senator, who asked to speak on background so he could be candid, said he was worried about Fetterman making a surprise party switch.
“I am concerned,” the senator told NOTUS.
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Fetterman has pointed to recent contested primaries as evidence that the party is changing.
“Look at the kinds of people that are winning our primaries. Not just, ‘I’m pro-Palestinian,’ but, ‘I’m intensely anti-Israel.’ That’s a significant difference,” Fetterman told NOTUS.
Fetterman’s decision to create a joint fundraising committee with Republican Sen. Dave McCormick, his Pennsylvania colleague with whom he has a uniquely close bipartisan friendship, is also sparking questions.
Joint fundraising committees are a common way to bulk up one’s coffers, but it’s highly unusual for participants to be from different political parties, a move that didn’t go unnoticed by his Senate colleagues.
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“I’ve never seen it before. Yes, I’m struck by it,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland), who served as chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, told NOTUS.
Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-Pennsylvania), a progressive who has left the door open to a potential challenge to Fetterman once his term expires in 2028, called Fetterman’s decision to team up with McCormick on fundraising “crazy stuff.”
“We have battleground races in Pennsylvania that we are trying to flip, and now we’ve got John Fetterman helping the Republicans to raise money to beat Democrats,” Deluzio told MeidasTouch last week.
Fetterman downplayed the joint fundraising committee with McCormick, telling the Washington Examiner, “It’s nothing sinister.”
“It’s just — people have joint interest in the things that we happen to agree on, if we both represent Pennsylvania,” he told the outlet.
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Fetterman has become more and more estranged from the Democratic Party.
He votes with Democrats on most bills and nominations, but his backing of Israel, the Iran war and border security has annoyed some in his party.
As such, he enjoys attacking far-left Democrats, most recently criticizing progressives for backing Platner in Maine’s Senate race.
This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
