John Fetterman doesn't have immediate plans to bolt the Democratic Party, but the Pennsylvania senator sounded a public warning about the possibility on Wednesday. "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 said at a forum co-hosted by the Hill and NewsNation. The comments came after a vote in the House in which nearly half of Democrats in the chamber voted to cut off aid to Israel.
Fetterman complained that the strong party support for the measure, which ultimately failed, is a sign of a broader trend. "You look at the kinds of individuals that are winning our recent primaries," he said. "It's becoming more anti-, anti-Israel and hostile to people" who are pro-Israel. Back in May, Politico reported that Republicans were courting Fetterman to switch parties, and Fetterman acknowledged the overtures on Wednesday but declined to detail "private conversations." His office did not clarify what threshold Democrats would have to cross to be anti-Israel in his eyes, per Axios.
The idea of a party switch is not so far-fetched, notes New York magazine, pointing to a Quinnipiac poll finding that 52% of Pennsylvanians would welcome the move. Fetterman is next up for election in 2028, and he is expected to draw a serious primary challenge should he remain a Democrat. In the meantime, he seems to relish calling out fellow Democrats, and has publicly defended his intra-party criticisms.
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