Leftist Freakout Commences After John Fetterman Declares He Is ‘Not a Progressive’
“I’m not a progressive. I just think I’m a Democrat that is very committed to choice and other things. But with Israel, I’m going to be on the right side of that. And immigration is something near and dear to me, and I think we do have to effectively address it as well.”
Though first-term Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman is far from a Sinema/Manchin type, he has been giving the woke left fits in recent weeks with his right-leaning stances on illegal immigration, the Sen. Bob Menendez scandal, and, most of all, his staunch support for Israel.
Fetterman, who suffered a debilitating stroke in May 2022 during his Senate run and who spent a considerable amount of time away from the Senate in early 2023 after checking himself into a hospital for severe depression, has even gone so far as to take his case to “The View,” where earlier this month he frustrated the far-left co-hosts by among other things arguing that Menendez needed to go:
But to me, I think the more important picture is that we have a colleague in the Senate that actually did much more sinister and serious kind of things: Senator Menendez. He needs to go. And if you are going to expel Santos, how can you allow somebody like Menendez to remain in the Senate?
And, you know, Santos’s kind of lies were almost funny and, like, he landed on the moon and that kind of stuff. Whereas, you know, I think, you know, Menendez, I think is really a senator for Egypt, not New Jersey. So, I really think he needs to go, and especially it’s kind of strange that if Santos is not allowed to remain in the House, you know, someone like that —
Watch:
Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) was on The View and he too argued that Menendez was far worse than Santos: “I think, you know, Menendez, I think is really a senator for Egypt, not New Jersey.”
Hostin whines that there are calls for Menendez to go before “adjudication.” pic.twitter.com/3FSvEEg190— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) December 1, 2023
Though Fetterman has also outraged the anti-Israel contingent on the left by doing things like repeatedly calling for the safe release of the hostages held by Hamas and openly trolling agitators during protests, it was a recent interview he did with NBC News that sent some Democrats over the edge:
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., is breaking with progressives on hot-button issues with his fiery support for Israel and calls for Democrats to engage on tougher immigration laws, disappointing some on the left as he shows an independent streak.
He’s also continually scolding Democrats for not pushing Sen. Bob Menendez out of office after he was indicted on federal charges of taking bribes and acting as a foreign agent for Egypt, which the New Jersey Democrat denies.
[…]
“I’m not a progressive,” Fetterman told NBC News. “I just think I’m a Democrat that is very committed to choice and other things. But with Israel, I’m going to be on the right side of that. And immigration is something near and dear to me, and I think we do have to effectively address it as well.”
The New Republic wrote in the aftermath that Fetterman had “finally announced” he was “not the progressive he pretended to be.” In their piece, they pointed to all the times Fetterman had used the word “progressive” to characterize himself and the movement to elect him.
Senator John Fetterman finally announced that he’s not the progressive he pretended to be, writes @EllieHotel_ing. https://t.co/XmNkwDOPX4
— The New Republic (@newrepublic) December 16, 2023
The Twitter machine also had its fair share of leftist Fetterman critics airing their grievances:
He was “progressive” when he was asking for money and votes, though. https://t.co/BRXQjSN0Mm
— Nina Turner (@ninaturner) December 15, 2023
Senator Fetterman throwing progressives under the bus a year before he has to go into his swing state and ask people to vote for Biden?
What’s the logic?
— Nina Turner (@ninaturner) December 16, 2023
Oh man, wonder where people would have gotten the idea that he considered himself a progressive https://t.co/oWoH3mMcRt pic.twitter.com/1UckvbH3bj
— Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) December 15, 2023
Fetterman has never been progressive but endorsing talks for tougher immigration laws when he’s married to an incredible woman who was once an illegal immigrant and who kept his campaign alive while he was recovering from a stroke is actually sickening. https://t.co/4jCUyflgiQ
— Alexandra M. Hunt (@hunt4change) December 15, 2023
Among 500 other reasons, this is why "just vote" is beyond parody. Nothing stopping these folks from pretending to support popular things and then show their full fash selves once elected https://t.co/GHk7ZNHh9l
— bubblewrath.bsky.social (@wrath_776) December 15, 2023
Abandoning your base and values to support genocide and attack immigrants. Lowest of the low. https://t.co/Y9gGu0mixV pic.twitter.com/Vn7DBoGWXk
— Read Let This Radicalize You (@JoshuaPHilll) December 15, 2023
The unmasking is complete. After Fetterman backtracked on issues like fracking, stood firm for Israeli apartheid, now says he's not a progressive while pushing extremist immigration policy.
Democrats are liars, Republicans in "blue" clothing. We need an independent movement. https://t.co/zNoM6qPUxY
— The Green Garret 🌻 (@TheGreenGarret) December 15, 2023
Fetterman’s stances have had some conservative influencers suggesting he has more or less turned into one himself:
John Fetterman is now a de facto conservative. “I’m not a progressive,” he says. He previously identified as a socialist. He’s also slamming Democrats for their double standards on Bob Menendez/George Santos. He isn’t even up for re-election until 2028.
Nature is healing. pic.twitter.com/s8lHcNpZ9r
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) December 15, 2023
I don’t really see it that way. Though maybe not a hardcore woke progressive, he’s still a staunch Democrat. He’s pro-abortion, pro-Big Labor, pro-“tax the rich,” pro gun rights restrictions, and is soft on crime. But the fact that Fetterman’s been more right than left on Menendez, illegal immigration, and Israel as of late is certainly welcome all the same.
— Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym “Sister Toldjah” and can be reached via Twitter. —
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Comments
When did following the law (immigration) become an “extremist position”?
When a criminal organization began to masquerade as a political party.
As much as I disagree with most of his views lets give credit where credit is due. The man is actually representing the people who elected him. Most of PA. (if you step away from the Philly Suburbs and College campuses) support Israel over Hamas, most of them want a solution to illegal immigration, most of them do not like crooked politicians. Kudos to him for actually doing his job instead of following the party line.
I feel similarly. I still wish Dr. Oz had won this election, I disagree with Fetterman on many issues, and, I have fairly criticized him in the past. That said, Fetterman’s courageous pro-Israel stance, making him an outlier in an increasingly feckless and morally bankrupt Dhimmi-crat Party, deserves praise.
This is where his party and the media (but I repeat myself) start to wonder about his mental capacity.
Doesn’t this guy have brain damage?
Not as much damage as Dems in general and especially Pales.
In this case it seems as if the damage has caused an improvement. Maybe the diseased parts of his brain were the ones that died.
But really, saying he’s not a progressive after campaigning on being one is easily understandable; when he campaigned, “progressive” didn’t mean supporting resuming the Holocaust, or at least he didn’t understand it that way. Now that he’s been told it does mean that, he says he’s not one. I remember when supporting Israel was the “Progressive” position, and it was Republicans who were likely to be hostile to or lukewarm on Israel.
I don’t judge the elected people by how they talk, I judge them by how they cast their votes. Fetterman voted for the NDAA that included extending Sec. 702 ( that has nothing to do with the NDAA). Same applies to Cruz, Cotton, Graham and Kennedy. There were 65 Senators on both sides that voted for it and a group of 35 from both parties that voted against it.
It almost appeared as if going home for Christmas was more important than putting the brakes on domestic spying by the government.
“Progressives” do not have set beliefs or principles. They morph and change depending on the narrative.
People really need to understand this. They don’t have principles, they have wedge issues to disingenuously exploit.
Fetterman has been acting like a Cultural Marxist all the years he has been in the spotlight here in Pa.
His stated reason as far as I know to get into Harrisburg was to get criminals out of prisons back into the population asap.
I have no idea why all of a sudden everyone thinks he Ronald Regan wannabe but I don’t trust his as far as I could throw him and he might out weigh me 2 to 1
I’ll hold off any praise until he actually votes against his vile, segregationist and authoritarian party on something consequential.
Not sure what to make of Fetterman. He seems to be getting a Bill Maher conversion in real time. Left of center but a realist smacked in the face by the reality of what the Progressives are doing to this country. Pulling back from the crazy and approaching a Classic Liberal position.
Looks like the right side of his brain is healing faster than the wrong side.
By saying he wants to be on the right side of the Israel issue, is he admitting he is on the wrong side of the others?
Not necessarily. He could simply mean that on this issue the “Progressive” movement has taken the wrong side, so he’s not going along with it.
Watching the left scramble like headless chickens, the schadenfreude is just delicious.
Y’all preferred to send the incoherent slavehunter to the US Senate rather than Dr. Oz?
You got ‘im. Enjoy your decline.
I will wait and see how he votes
if he votes like he talks … outstanding
What’s going to be interesting will be the maneuvering to get him removed from the Senate. Surely the dems will argue that his positions will indicate that he’s not fit to serve. Henrybowman’s right: “delicious” is the exact word to describe the current hi jinx.
He seems to be recovering from his brain injury.