Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) was elected to the Senate last year and was widely expected to be one of the more liberal members of the upper chamber of Congress, but the former Pennsylvania lieutenant governor has made some recent moves that have garnered praise from the right side of the aisle.
While still being a reliable Democratic vote on nearly everything, Fetterman has issued support on some matters that have strayed from the progressive wing of the party.
Here are three examples of matters where Fetterman has earned praise from conservatives for his positions:
Israel support
Fetterman has been a fierce supporter of Israel in its war against Hamas, which has caused liberal activists to express their disappointment with the senator. Despite criticism from those in the left flank of his party, Fetterman has maintained that Israel needs to be able to destroy Hamas to ensure peace in Gaza.
As some of his liberal colleagues call for an immediate ceasefire, Fetterman has called for Hamas to surrender and went to a massive pro-Israel rally in Washington last month. He also has displayed the posters of the hostages captured by Hamas in his Senate office.
In my front office I have displayed the posters of the innocent Israelis kidnapped by Hamas.
They will stay up until every single person is safely returned home. pic.twitter.com/qxCmvC97uY— Senator John Fetterman (@SenFettermanPA) November 7, 2023
Immigration
While many of Fetterman’s fellow Democrats have resisted negotiating with Republicans on immigration, the junior senator from the Keystone State has expressed a willingness to work on limiting migration to get aid for Israel and Ukraine.
“It’s a reasonable conversation — until somebody can say there’s an explanation on what we can do when 270,000 people are being encountered on the border, not including the ones, of course, that we don’t know about,” Fetterman told NBC News. “To put that in reference, that is essentially the size of Pittsburgh, the second-largest city in Pennsylvania.”
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Calling for the resignation of Sen. Bob Menendez
Fetterman has been at the forefront of calling for the resignation of Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), who was indicted on corruption charges. He has called Menendez’s alleged crimes “more sinister” than those of expelled Rep. George Santos, and he said Menendez should face the same fate as the New York Republican.
“He needs to go,” Fetterman told NBC News in an interview published last week. “I don’t understand why he can be here, having expelled Santos. But I’m sure there might be a very innocent explanation of having gold bars in your mattress and overstuffed envelopes of cash.”
