Democratic Senator John Fetterman said Sunday he accepted the praise he was receiving from conservatives – as he attacked the “Hamas tent” of anti-Israel American students.
The pro-Israel politician from Pennsylvania, who gained a reputation as far left before landing in the Senate, has been acclaimed by the right for his staunch defense of the Jewish state and his occasional reprisals against progressives – this which helped woo him Republican donors.
“I don’t have a litmus test,” the Keystone State Democrat told NewsNation’s “The Hill Sunday,” referring to the issues he supports.
“We don’t have to agree on everything,” he added of himself and other Democrats.
Fetterman, who previously supported left-wing Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) for president, voted roughly in the middle of the pack among Senate Democrats, according to GovTrack.
But his unqualified support for Israel angered progressives.
On Sunday, as hundreds of students on college campuses, including the prestigious Columbia University in Manhattan, staged sit-ins against Israel, Fetterman remained undefeated.
“I will say this: it is very clear that there is a seed of anti-Semitism in all of these demonstrations. And then sometimes it flares up again and again,” Fetterman said.
“Of course, protesting is a great American value, but I don’t think living in a folding tent for Hamas is really helpful,” he said, referring to the Palestinian terror group at war with Israel.
Last week, Fetterman demanded that Columbia President Minouche Shafik do her “job or quit” in terms of policing what he called the school’s “anti-Semitic, unacceptable and dangerous” student protests.
Fetterman insisted Sunday that he abandoned the progressive label long ago.
“I’ve been saying this for years — I really don’t consider myself progressive,” Fetterman said. “And I’ve said it before, it’s not that I’ve changed but that word has changed.
“I’m just a Democrat, and I’ve been very clear and I think consistent,” he said.
The politician said he was proud of how the Senate recently managed to bridge the partisan divide and pass a $95 billion aid package for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan.
“It’s very clear that in Washington you have to work together to find the right solution. And I was very proud to vote for this gigantic bill just under a week ago,” Fetterman said.
“This is a dramatic statement that we have made and that the House has made, first and foremost alongside democracy and our allies,” he continued. “And I don’t understand why anyone would vote against that.” But I can always have a beer with them.
Among Democrats, the roughly $26 billion package for military support to Israel and humanitarian aid to Palestinian residents of Gaza has proven divisive.
But Fetterman said Sunday that some things are clear.
“I cannot end this war, Joe Biden cannot end this war, (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamkin) Netanyahu cannot end this war. But Hamas could put an end to it now,” he said.
New York Post
