Fetterman rejects ‘progressive’ label, says agenda doesn’t make sense to him

Sen. John Fetterman, whose rise to Congress was thanks in part to his celebrity status among progressives, is unapologetic about his political pivot that’s driven a wedge between himself and the Democratic Party’s left wing.

With his first year in the Senate under his belt, the Pennsylvania Democrat has veered out of the far-left lane on hot-button issues such as siding with Israel in its war with Hamas and backing increased border security to stop the migrant crisis.

He even rejects the “progressive” label he once proudly wore, saying he’s “just a Democrat.”

“I’ve been saying that for years,” Mr. Fetterman told The Washington Times in an interview at the U.S. Capitol, where he donned his signature gym shorts and hoodie, as well as a beanie. “What ‘progressive’ has kind of become and taken on just doesn’t seem like I was really identifying with.”

He said the far-left’s agenda doesn’t make sense to him anymore.

“I can’t really understand why anybody would be upset for being a supporter of Israel or thinking that it’s important that we have a secured border,” Mr. Fetterman said.

His break with progressives capped a rough first year in the Senate, where Mr. Fetterman arrived hounded by doubts about his mental fitness after a near-fatal stroke and then was hospitalized for weeks to treat severe depression.

Sen. Bernard Sanders, a Vermont independent and the chamber’s most progressive member who calls himself a democratic socialist, refused to discuss Mr. Fetterman. Mr. Sanders, who is Jewish, is sharply critical of the civilian death toll and humanitarian crisis in Gaza from Israel’s counteroffensive.

“I don’t want to talk about Sen. Fetterman,” Mr. Sanders said.

Mr. Fetterman endorsed Mr. Sanders’ 2016 presidential run. Returning the favor, Mr. Sanders in 2018 endorsed Mr. Fetterman’s successful lieutenant governor campaign and fundraised for him in his 2022 Senate run.

Mr. Fetterman insisted he abandoned the progressive title as far back as 2015 or 2016, when he was mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania, and lost the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate. He said during his 2022 Senate campaign that he was “just a Democrat,” but he embraced the progressive term during his 2018 lieutenant governor campaign and described himself as one on social media as recently as 2020. His left-wing stances as mayor are what first drew the 6-foot-8, 300-pound heavily tattooed man accolades from progressives. 

“He undoubtedly ruffled some feathers among progressives,” said Christopher Borick, director of Pennsylvania’s Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion. “But he’s brought his appeal. Pennsylvania is a fairly moderate state.”

Mr. Fetterman’s intensifying beef with the left appears to be paying off with voters back home.

A recent Quinnipiac University poll found that his strong support for Israel is a 12-percentage point net positive among Pennsylvania voters, and his push for stronger immigration policies is a 26-percentage point net positive. Among Pennsylvania Democrats, he has an 80% job approval rating and a 76% favorability rating.

His shift to more moderate leanings is a wise political calculus, Democratic strategists said.

“A bird needs two wings to fly in a state like Pennsylvania. It’s a battleground state,” said Democratic strategist Brad Bannon, who sees Mr. Fetterman as a populist rather than a progressive. “I think if you look at the deliberations in the Senate Democratic Caucus, he does speak for progressive issues. But I do think he’s trying to diversify his political portfolio.”

Mr. Fetterman rebuffed the notion that his positions could alienate the Democratic base in Pennsylvania, a competitive state crucial to President Biden’s reelection. He had a message for any progressives frustrated with Mr. Biden who may be weighing whether to abandon the president at the ballot box: “Get your red hat.”

“Anyone that would turn their back on Biden, why don’t you just write a check for Trump?” he said. “Stay home, vote for some rando third-party person, and then you are helping Trump.”

Mr. Fetterman also strays from his party when it comes to Sen. Robert Menendez, the New Jersey Democrat who’s facing criminal charges for allegedly using his powerful position to act as a foreign agent to the government of Egypt and accept lavish gifts as bribes, including gold bars.

Mr. Fetterman has developed a daily routine of telling any Capitol Hill reporter within earshot that Mr. Menendez should be expelled, going a step further than his Democratic colleagues, most of whom say the embattled senator should resign.

Mr. Menendez has pleaded not guilty to the public corruption charges.

“Taking a stand against Bob Menendez’s gold bars doesn’t lose him, well, anyone outside of maybe Democratic Party leadership, and positions him as a common-sense guy who’s willing to speak out,” said Democratic strategist Christy Setzer.