Some Democrats are not too happy with one of them after he said this week that he was not a progressive Democrat. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) had made the comments during an interview with NBC News.
“I’m not a progressive. I just think I’m a Democrat that is very committed to choice and other things. But with Israel, I’m going to be on the right side of that. And immigration is something near and dear to me, and I think we do have to effectively address it as well,” he stated.
Fetterman further explained that while he is pro-immigration, he supports the idea of restricting the inflow of immigrants into the U.S.
While many on the left kick against Republican-led calls to fix the worsening immigration crisis at the southern border, Fetterman thinks differently.
According to him, “it’s a reasonable conversation — until somebody can say there’s an explanation on what we can do when 270,000 people are being encountered on the border, not including the ones, of course, that we don’t know about. To put that in reference, that is essentially the size of Pittsburgh, the second-largest city in Pennsylvania.”
He, however, does not think Republicans’ attempt to tie the border and immigration issue to Ukraine and Israel aid packages is “ideal.”
Nevertheless, he believes that might be the best option given Republicans’ insistence on the issue.
As he put it, “Progressives better do that because we can’t leave Israel — we can’t sell them out, and we can’t sell Ukraine out, and we have to deliver on this. I just would very much like to get a deal to deliver this critical aid.”
Fetterman also repeated his calls for the removal of Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) from Congress, insisting that “he needs to go.”
For the Pennsylvania lawmaker, Menendez, who is facing bribery charges, deserves to be expelled from the Senate as much as Rep. George Santos (R-NY) who got expelled from the House at the beginning of the month having been faced with fraud and campaign finance violations.
“I don’t understand why he can be here, having expelled Santos. But I’m sure there might be a very innocent explanation of having gold bars in your mattress and overstuffed envelopes of cash,” Fetterman said of Menendez’s continued stay in Congress.
Fetterman’s interview angered many as evidenced by comments on social media given his recent support for Israel since the Oct. 7 attacks on the nation by Hamas.
“Abandoning your base and values to support genocide and attack immigrants. Lowest of the low,” a user wrote, pointing to years-old tweets of the senator declaring himself a “progressive democrat.”
Abandoning your base and values to support genocide and attack immigrants. Lowest of the low. https://t.co/Y9gGu0mixV pic.twitter.com/Vn7DBoGWXk
— Read Let This Radicalize You (@JoshuaPHilll) December 15, 2023
He tweeted, “More BS from @SenFettermanPA. The criticism isn’t that there’s something wrong w/engaging talks on the border, it’s that he’s misleading people about the true nature of those talks, what Ds are already offering in them, and how GOP solutions won’t fix the problem of “encounters.”
More BS from @SenFettermanPA. The criticism isn't that there's something wrong w/engaging talks on the border, it's that he's misleading people about the true nature of those talks, what Ds are already offering in them, and how GOP solutions won't fix the problem of "encounters." https://t.co/4EaSlkTgmh
— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) December 15, 2023
“John Fetterman has earnestly become one of the most beloved Senators among many Republicans: first due to his pro-Israel fanaticism, then his vote for FBI spying, now his hard-line border security stance,” a third user tweeted, adding, “This one’s odd because his wife and her family illegally entered the US.”
John Fetterman has earnestly become one of the most beloved Senators among many Republicans: first due to his pro-Israel fanaticism, then his vote for FBI spying, now his hard-line border security stance.
This one's odd because his wife and her family illegally entered the US: https://t.co/lRvbfx70n7
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) December 15, 2023
