Conservatives relentlessly mocked John Fetterman as a U.S. Senate candidate, especially for the lapses in speech related to a stroke suffered during his campaign and his infamous wardrobe that seemed to include only hoodie sweatshirts and gym shorts.
But in recent weeks, Fetterman, the freshman Democratic senator from Pennsylvania, has arguably emerged as a significantly more moderate presence in a party laced with left-wing radicals.
The latest example came last week in an interview with Politico.
Fetterman commented on the Senate’s debate of a $111 billion aid package to fund military aid to Ukraine and Israel.
In partisan fashion, Fetterman blamed Republicans for the slow pace of negotiations for arguing about mixing Ukraine with Israel and border security.
But he also slammed fellow Democrats for their woke ideology.
“I hope Democrats can understand that it isn’t xenophobic to be concerned about the border,” Fetterman told Politico. “It’s a reasonable conversation, and Democrats should engage.”
Although described as a “progressive favorite,” Fetterman pointed out the problem with almost 270,000 illegal immigrants flowing across the southern border, as happened just in September.
“Honestly, it’s astonishing. And this isn’t a Fox News kind of statistic. This is the government’s,” he said. “You essentially have Pittsburgh showing up there at the border.”
“I haven’t met anyone that can have a really crisp, cogent solution or easy solution on, ‘Well, what do you do when you have roughly a city similar in size of Pittsburgh coming up to the border?’” he added.
Fetterman signaled that he remains wedded to much of the Democrats’ leftist ideology.
But he also has broken with most Democrats by siding wholeheartedly with Israel.
In a recent statement, Fetterman said of the Oct. 7 terrorist attack by Hamas on Israeli civilians, which killed more than 1,200 Jews, “We now know this was a wide-scale, premeditated, cowardly, terrorist campaign against Israeli civilians that also claimed the lives of American citizens.”
“I unequivocally support any necessary military, intelligence, and humanitarian aid to Israel. The United States has a moral obligation to be in lockstep with our ally as they confront this threat. I also fully support Israel neutralizing the terrorists responsible for this barbarism.”
Fetterman last week rejected CNN’s assertion that Israel was committing war crimes in trying to stamp out Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and in November, he taunted pro-Palestinian protesters arrested outside the U.S. Capitol by waving an Israeli flag at them.
Fetterman in September also called for fellow Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey to resign after he was indicted on bribery charges.
Fetterman openly complained that it was unfair for Menendez to remain in office while House lawmakers were throwing out former GOP Rep. George Santos, who also had been charged, but not convicted, of a crime.
He also called on the Senate to expel Menendez and to ban the longtime Jersey senator from classified briefings. Fetterman once called Menendez the “senator from Egypt” for his alleged criminal connections to Egyptian sources.
In a impish twist, Fetterman recently hired Santos for $200 to cut a Cameo video to “Bobby from Jersey,” saying he wanted to provide his “ethically-challenged colleague … some encouragement given his substantial legal problems.”
Hey, Bobby!” Santos said in the short clip. “Look, I don’t think I need to tell you, but: These people that want to make you get in trouble and want to kick you out and make you run away — you make them put up or shut up. You stand your ground, sir, and don’t get bogged down by all the haters out there. Stay strong. Merry Christmas!”
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