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Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., claimed on Saturday that the Democratic Party’s “big tent” had become more accommodating of people who say America “deserved 9/11” than Democrats who strongly support Israel, as the Pennsylvania senator explained why the issue has increasingly put him at odds with parts of his party.
Fetterman made the comparison at the Texas Tribune Festival in Austin while CBS News chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett asked whether there were any circumstances under which he would leave the Democratic Party.
“It’s easier to be included in that big tent to say ‘America deserved 9/11’ or America is ‘worse than Al-Qaeda’ than being very proud to stand on the side of Israel,” Fetterman said. “More and more members of my caucus are becoming more and more anti-Israel.”
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., said the Democratic Party’s “big tent” had become more accommodating to people who say America “deserved 9/11” than to Democrats who strongly support Israel. (Fox News Digital)
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Fetterman saying America “deserved 9/11” was a reference to streamer Hasan Piker, who made the remark during a 2019 livestream before later saying he “obviously” did not believe Americans deserved the terrorist attacks. Fetterman pointed to the interest in Piker’s appearances as evidence of where he believed political enthusiasm was building on the left.
“I’m just describing that’s where a lot of the energy on the left is in my party,” Fetterman said.
The tension comes as Democratic voters’ attitudes toward Israel have shifted sharply.
A Pew Research Center survey conducted in March found 80% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents held an unfavorable view of Israel, up from 53% in 2022. Overall, 60% of American adults viewed Israel unfavorably.
Fetterman warned that “more and more” members of the Democratic caucus were becoming anti-Israel and pointed to Senate votes on Israeli military assistance as evidence of the shift. (Fox News Digital)
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“80% Democrats have a negative view on Israel,” Fetterman said. “If America stops supporting Israel or turns their back on Israel, that must mean that we don’t even believe in ourselves anymore. I mean that’s that’s our special ally and that is the kinds of values and the kinds of the you know how we live here that’s that only exists in one place in that region and that’s that’s Israel.”
“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.
Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin addressed that tension in comments to Fox News Digital on Monday, defending Democrats as a “big tent” party while distancing the DNC from Piker.
Fetterman said support for Israel could ultimately become a red line for his Democratic Party membership if the party formally became “anti-Israel.” (GPO)
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“Let me just say that I think it’s absolutely disgusting and deplorable the things that Hasan Piker has said,” Martin said. “But he does not represent the Democratic Party, and he certainly doesn’t represent the viewpoints of almost every one of our candidates and our elected officials.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Piker for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.
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Fetterman also referenced resolutions introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., while discussing Democratic opposition to Israeli military assistance.
In April, 40 Senate Democrats voted to block a $295 million sale of bulldozers to Israel and 36 supported blocking a $151.8 million sale of 1,000-pound bombs.
Those resolutions did not concern Iron Dome funding, which Fetterman separately cited Saturday as an example of defensive assistance to Israel.