WASHINGTON — Sen. John Fetterman is making clear where he would draw the line with the Democratic Party.
The Pennsylvania Democrat said he has “no plans” to leave the party, but warned that a full Democratic break with US support for Israel would be enough to push him out.
“If our party ever becomes — and just makes it official — the anti-Israel party, that’s when I would leave because that’s been a moral clarity for me,” Fetterman, 56, said Wednesday at the Hill Nation Summit.
“My long-term concern has been with the Democratic Party, as I am a member of that, is that our party is going to back away and turn their back to Israel,” he added.
Fetterman has repeatedly criticized the progressive wing of the Democratic Party over its hostility toward the Jewish state, while also taking aim at what he sees as a growing embrace of socialism on the left.
His comments came the same day 103 House Democrats voted for an amendment from Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) that would have cut $3.3 billion in US defense assistance to Israel.
Among the Democrats who backed the measure was House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), the No. 2-ranking member of the party’s conference in the House.
Fetterman also rebuked Democrats he said were “trying to ingratiate ourselves with that segment of the base of our voters are intensely, intensely anti-Israel.”
The Pennsylvania senator has a 69% disapproval rating among Democratic voters in his home state while just 19% approve, according to a recent Quinnipiac University poll.
But among Republicans, 77% approve of Fetterman’s job performance, compared to 12% who disapprove.
Fetterman has repeatedly rebuffed overtures from Republicans to jump ship. In May, he wrote a Washington Post op-ed tearing into the calls for him to switch parties.
“My values have not changed, and I have always turned to those kinds of ideals that defined being a Democrat,” he wrote. “I remain strongly pro-choice, pro-weed, pro-LGBT, pro-SNAP, pro-labor … I’d be a terrible Republican who still votes overwhelmingly with Democrats.”
Fetterman is not up for reelection until 2028 and has not said whether he will pursue a second term.
