It was a threat that prompted the centrist Democrat to spend much of Thursday clarifying to reporters in the halls of the Capitol.Roughly half of House Democrats voting to cut off U.S. aid to Israel and insurgent progressives with anti-Israel sentiments ousting incumbents are not part of his calculation. Fetterman considers the events largely “symbolic.”
“If you actually [make] it part of our platform, then that’s different,” Fetterman said. “When they just make it official. That they add that to the platform and say, ‘We will never support aid for Israel, it doesn’t deserve to exist,’ and makes it very clear.”The party’s grappling with immense divisions over what was once ironclad support for the longtime U.S. ally has included a rise in antisemitism. But without a more unified stance, Democrats remain without an official position on continuing billions of dollars in annual military aid, let alone declaring Israel lacking the right to exist.That is good news for the Democrats who fear Fetterman is on the cusp of becoming a Republican. He’s stirred fresh fury over his cross-party joint fundraising effort with Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA). Fetterman rejected the notion it was part of a “sinister” plot and downplayed its significance beyond offering donors the ability to “support our views and the common issues that we agree on.” He also denied it meant anything for his potential 2028 reelection plans or switching parties.There might be natural commonalities with his home state Republican colleague, and he’s no stranger to railing against his party, particularly on illegal immigration and Israel. But Fetterman’s policy overlap with Republicans largely ends there.He voted in line with President Donald Trump last year 28% of the time, the most of any Senate Democrat, according to a VoteHub analysis. Still, more than half of Pennsylvania voters want him to abandon Democrats, and his job approval ratings are inversed among the parties: 77% of Republicans approve compared to just 19% of Democrats. Those figures suggest he’d have difficulty prevailing in a Democratic primary.As a Republican, Fetterman would be far from Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who’s voted in line with Trump’s stated position 88% of the time, the lowest among GOP senators. Just this week, as one of Washington’s staunchest Israel defenders, Fetterman called it a “betrayal” for Vice President JD Vance to allege Israel is paying online influencers to criticize and undermine administration talks toward an Iran peace deal.By comparison, former West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, the Democrat-turned-independent, voted with Trump roughly half the time during the president’s first term. He’s urged Fetterman to follow in his footsteps and “set yourself free” by becoming an independent.Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., speaks to reporters following votes at the Capitol, Thursday, March 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)
