In a rare move, Democrat Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) is receiving praise from Republicans after criticizing his own party’s stance on several issues.
Fetterman has slammed the Democratic Party’s progressive “Squad” who refuse to condemn the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel. He questioned why the United States hasn’t yet destroyed Hamas, adding that every terrorist killed is "one more step" toward peace.
The Democrat has stood by his pro-Israel stance, angering members of his party who believe more should be done to help Gaza despite Hamas raping and heinously killing innocent Israelis.
“I have a 12-year-old daughter,” Fetterman said. “If someone did that to my daughter, would you want me to sit down at a table and negotiate with them? Never. I would never ask for Israel to do that as well."
On the contrary, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) held a different opinion on the matter, pushing the Left to reject the $10 billion in military aid for Israel. He considers Israeli forces to be "grossly disproportionate" and "immoral" in its response to Hamas.
Acknowledging the “blowback” from his Leftist colleagues, Fetterman said, "Great. I welcome the smoke then."
Fetterman’s denunciation of Hamas has angered progressives and, in return, rounded up applause from conservatives. In recent years, the Democrat senator said he has moved away from the progressive movement, describing himself as “just a Democrat.”
Progressive pro-Palestine protestors have called him “Genocide John,” while former campaign staffers of his wrote a letter in October to him calling on him to support a cease-fire.
Aside from the Israel-Hamas war, Fetterman has taken a more “mainstream” approach to several issues, while acknowledging that he has embraced a progressive agenda in previous years.
Despite being pro-immigration, Fetterman urged his colleagues to come to the table for a "reasonable conversation” on how to end the tens of millions of illegal migrants crossing into the U.S. daily.
“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," Fetterman said. "To put that in reference, that is essentially the size of Pittsburgh, the second-largest city in Pennsylvania."
He blasted Democrats, saying that it isn’t “xenophobic to be concerned about the border.”
In December, Fetterman also addressed the expulsion of Republican Rep. George Santos (R-NY), questioning if he is kicked out of Congress, then-Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) does too.
Menendez was federally charged with participating in a bribery scheme. At the same time, Santos was expelled from his congressional seat after being indicted on 23 counts related to wire fraud, identity theft, falsification of records, and credit card fraud.
“And if you are going to expel Santos, how can you allow somebody like Menendez to remain in the Senate?" Fetterman pointed out.
“How is it possible that John Fetterman in the last few months has seemingly become more based than half of the senate GOP???" Former President Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., wrote on X.