John Fetterman, the large adult senator from Pennsylvania who dresses like he is perpetually on his way to check the mail, is once again flirting with the idea of leaving the Democratic Party. He has not pulled the trigger yet, but as USA Journal reported, he just told the world exactly what it would take.
Appearing on Fox News with Sean Hannity, Fetterman laid out his red line in pretty clear terms. It is not about taxes, not about healthcare, not about hoodie dress codes in the Senate chamber. It is about Israel.
"What my real concern is, the Democratic Party is going to become, and put it into the platform, an anti-Israel party, that Israel does not have the right to defend itself and to exist," Fetterman said. "And the second that becomes a formal part of our platform, that's the one thing that would push me out of this party because I'm deeply alarmed the way the Democratic Party is going after Israel and allowing rank antisemitism to just flourish, you know, in the left on the campuses as well too."
So there you have it. The man drew a line in the sand, and that line is the Democratic Party platform. Not vibes, not bad tweets, not individual candidates going off the rails. The actual written platform. Which means technically he can keep hanging around as long as nobody puts it in writing, kind of like how your coworker keeps eating your lunch from the office fridge because nobody has formally posted a policy about it.
Fetterman also took shots at the broader direction of his party, pointing to candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists of America winning primary races. He called out the recent winner in Colorado who allegedly refused to describe a firebombing that targeted a group of Jews rallying for Israeli hostages and killed a woman.
"She refused to even address that. It is that antisemitic. So this is the point," Fetterman said.
He also noted what he called a "strong correlation" between anti-Israel sentiment, antisemitism, and anti-American views, pointing to individuals who he said believe America deserved 9/11 and Israel deserved the October 7th massacre.
"I don't know why we have other Democrats, you know, even people that are calling for their jobs in leadership saying 'you're next, you're next,'" he said. "Why can't you just push back and say these are abhorrent beliefs, you know, communism, socialism."
Fetterman also offered this gem about the state of Jewish voters in his party: "I'm not a member of the Jewish community, but if I was one, it would be bleak as a Jewish voter in the Democratic Party."
Now, Fetterman has rejected calls to become a Republican before, and he generally still votes with Democrats. So we are in that familiar territory where a politician is loudly unhappy with his party but not quite unhappy enough to do anything about it. It is the political equivalent of complaining about your gym membership every month while still paying for it. Eventually you either cancel or you stop talking about it. We will see which one Fetterman picks.
Read more conservative news commentary at: USA Journal News
