Fetterman cuts down accusation Israel has committed war crimes: 'Israel must destroy Hamas'
During a CNN interview, Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn., trashed accusations that Israel has committed war crimes it its retaliation for Hamas' Oct. 7 terror attack.
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., continued to distance himself from the far-left wing of his party, telling the New York Times he no longer considers himself a "progressive."
The freshman U.S. Senator has angered progressives with his outspoken support for Israel and a secure border in the past few months. The Democrat said he's not interested in his party's "bizarre" purity tests.
"It’s just a place where I’m not," he told the Times. "I don’t feel like I’ve left the label; it’s just more that it’s left me."
Fetterman admitted his strong support for Israel has made him enemies on the far-left.
"What I have found out over the last couple years is that the right, and now the left, are hoping that I die," he explained.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) is photographed in his office on June 22, 2023 in Washington, D.C. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
The Democrat who famously suffered a stroke in 2022 remarked, "There are ones that are rooting for another blood clot. They have both now been wishing that I die."
Fetterman has openly backed Israel’s right to defend itself after the October 7 Hamas' terror attacks, and has even mocked progressive protesters demanding he speak out against Israel’s war effort.
That's earned the ire of some of the far-left voices in the party and even former staffers who say they feel betrayed.
But Fetterman said his position on Israel has been consistent. "I’m not really sure what part of any of this would be a surprise if anyone’s been paying attention," he told the paper.
While many progressives also champion LGBTQ rights, Fetterman called Israel the sole "progressive nation" in the Middle East on LGBTQ issues.
"I do find it confusing where the very left progressives in America don’t seem to want to support really the only progressive nation in the region that really embraces the same kind of values I would expect we would want as a society," he said of pro-Palestinian Democrats.
JOHN FETTERMAN SAYS HE'S FEELING LIBERATED AFTER BRUSH WITH DEATH, RIPS FELLOW DEMOCRATS
Sen. John Fetterman has broken with the far-left in his party by denouncing pro-Palestinian protesters on multiple occasions. (Getty Images // Fox News Digital)
Fetterman has also stood out from his party for wanting stronger immigration policies. In a recent interview with Politico, he chided his party for not engaging on the border issue.
"I hope Democrats can understand that it isn’t xenophobic to be concerned about the border," he said. "It’s a reasonable conversation, and Democrats should engage."
He doubled down on this belief to the Times.
"I don’t think it’s unreasonable to have a secured border. I would never put Dreamers in harm’s way, or support any kind of cruelty or mass expulsion of hundreds of thousands of people. But it’s a reasonable conversation to talk about the border," he remarked.
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Fox News' Gabriel Hays contributed to this report.
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