Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) was a huge target for Republicans when he was running for office back in 2022.
I think we would all agree that if there was anyone who would have a right to hold a grudge and not speak up against his own party, it would be Fetterman.
However, the senator has surprised everyone, including members of his Democrat Party, by openly speaking up against policies he does not support.
It became clear very early in Fetterman’s term that he was not always going to follow the party line, particularly when he stood up for Israel after the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7, 2023.
In December of that year, just months after the attacks, he stated, “I would just call myself a Democrat. And I believe that I’m on the right side of issues, whether that’s being very pro-choice, maybe that I believe that is being pro-union, and if I believe that’s pro-Israel as well, too.”
Fetterman further hinted that he would not be swayed from his personal stance for the benefit of party politics, stating, “There’s absolutely different kinds of opinions in the Democratic Party, and I’ve always been very clear that I’m going to stand on the right side of what I believe it is, and I’ve been very upfront on that as well too.”
During that interview, he also made his position very clear on Hamas, stating, “What is very clear is that Hamas started this, and they actually broke the ceasefire, and they attacked and murdered babies, children, women, attacked a music concert and everything. It’s outrageous, and from now on it’s been very clear that Israel would very much want there to be peace, but they’ve made it very clear that after October 7 that’s just not possible so long as Hamas is allowed to exist.”
With Zohran Mamdani on the verge of being elected mayor of New York City, Fetterman is begging his fellow Democrats to take a different path.
When asked if this was the future of the Democrat Party, he responded, “No, that’s gonna be New York’s voice.”
He continued, “Socialism is not the future of my party. And if that’s gonna be their future, that’s really up to New York City to decide those things. You know, we all know how socialism works out. Ask anybody that’s lived under those kinds of systems all across the globe.”
I found this particularly interesting because it was not long ago that Fetterman had been tagged as a socialist himself.
Fetterman has also been very critical of Democrat leadership amid the ongoing government shutdown, and he just blasted Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) by stating, “Yeah, well, ask the hungry people on Saturday. You know, that’s the thing … Americans are not leverage.”
He continued, “This is not -- this is not some sh**ty game show about who’s winning or whatever. It’s just like -- like, we have to be better than this and just open this up. And I do talk to any number of Republicans, too. They agree that we have this conversation about extending these tax credits.”
The GOP has been willing to talk, but its members want the government reopened first.
There was even an offer to put a standalone bill on the Senate floor to extend Obamacare subsidies for one year, but Democrat leadership balked. Now, we are in November, and the reality of the healthcare situation in this country is being acutely felt (my insurance plan went up by 30% with a higher deductible and out-of-pocket max), as is the fact of more than 40 million people seeing their SNAP benefits put in jeopardy. Now we see who blinks first.
