Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., has disappointed some on the left by defying progressives on contentious topics. He is calling for Democrats to take a more active stance on tighter immigration policies and has shown strong support for Israel.
Additionally, he has been criticizing Democrats nonstop for failing to remove Sen. Bob Menendez from office following his indictment on federal charges of accepting bribes and serving as an Egyptian foreign agent, accusations the New Jersey Democrat insists he never committed.
Due to Fetterman’s connections to Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, GOP rival Mehmet Oz told voters during the 2022 campaign that Fetterman would just serve as the democratic socialist’s “sidekick.” However, Fetterman’s recent positions suggest an unconventional kind of outsider populism mixed with blue-collar liberalism in a purple state that is predicted to be fiercely contested in the 2024 elections.
Sen. John Fetterman Controversy
The first-term Pennsylvania Democrat stated in an interview that his detractors shouldn’t be taken aback. Fetterman declared to NBC News, “I’m not a progressive.” “I simply believe that I am a Democrat who is deeply devoted to several issues, including choice.
However, I will be on the right side of that with Israel. Additionally, immigration is a topic that is important to me and that I believe has to be addressed as well.
Defying progressives who oppose further limits on asylum and denounce some of the proposals in the negotiations as inhumane, Fetterman said he could be pro-immigration and favor strategies to curb the flow of migration to manageable levels.
“It’s a rational discussion unless someone can explain what can be done when 270,000 people cross the border, excluding the ones we are unaware of,” he stated. “To put that in perspective, that is roughly the size of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania’s second-largest city.”
Even though Republicans have made it a necessary condition to advance the supplemental bill, the senator continued, “It’s still one that we should have” the discussion over asylum and parole policy about an aid package for Israel and Ukraine.
Progressives must take action on this issue, according to Fetterman, as we cannot abandon Israel or sell Ukraine. We must fulfill our commitments. “All I want is a deal to get this vital help delivered,”
As he continued to insult the senator from New Jersey and criticize President Joe Biden for striking an immigration agreement with Republicans, Fetterman continued his harsh assault on Menendez.
He laughed and said, “Oh, Bob Menendez.” “What a nice person. What a nice person. He continues to disparage Biden at the moment.
He must leave. After Santos was banished, I don’t see how he can be here,” he remarked. “But having gold bars in your mattress and overstuffed cash envelopes could have a very innocent explanation,” the speaker said.
As the number of Palestinian deaths rises amid the Israeli government’s bombing campaign in reprisal for the Hamas attack on October 7, Fetterman’s ferocious and unyielding support for Israel has come in direct contrast to Sanders’ demands that the United States remove its military aid. Fetterman has also come under heavy fire from the left.
“Fetterman’s populist outsiderness and empathy for all kinds of people made him popular among the public,” stated Waleed Shahid, a progressive activist who has mobilized opposition to US backing for Israel as the crisis intensifies.
“However, many people believe that he has a human value hierarchy and that Israeli lives are simply more important to him than Palestinian lives as a result of his extreme jingoistic support of this war.”
Republicans are astonished but in a good way. Concerning Fetterman’s views on Israel, border security, and Menendez, “for a lot of Republicans, it’s been a pleasant surprise,” said Christopher Nicholas, a veteran GOP strategist based in Pennsylvania. This freshman is adopting some firm positions. “Well, that’s what I think, and I say what I think,” is all I see in this person.
Nicholas expressed his special impression that Fetterman is being forthright in his refusal to back down from Menendez. “Having worked for Arlen Specter for eighteen years, I am aware of how corrupt the Senate can be. I understand now, Nicholas said.
However, I find it puzzling that not many other Democratic senators have echoed this sentiment. Maybe this is because he is a new senator and hasn’t fully assimilated into the “This is how we do things around here in the Senate.”
Even while Republicans attempted to portray the senator as a socialist in 2022 and “some folks on the left are pretending” he has since changed his beliefs, Fetterman chief of staff Adam Jentleson claimed the senator has “always had” the policy positions he is promoting now.
