CNN
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Democrats in Washington and Pennsylvania are increasingly frustrated with Sen. John Fetterman after a week in which he once again criticized his own party’s response to the Los Angeles protests and to Israel’s attacks on Iran – wedges Republicans eagerly highlighted.
But those Democrats also admit there is little they can do about it.
Ex-staffers continue to fume that their former boss is providing political fodder to Republicans. Democratic aides on Capitol Hill grouse about their bosses being forced to respond to his comments. Some voters who supported him in Pennsylvania say they are fed up, and a former 2022 primary rival is barnstorming the state, holding town halls and lambasting Fetterman, who is largely avoiding public events.
Fetterman has also drawn some grumbling within the party for frequently missing votes and committee hearings, and his mental health has been a frequent subject of discussion in recent months in the wake of media reports detailing claims about his erratic behavior. Fetterman, who has been open about receiving treatment for clinical depression, has dismissed any suggestion he might be unfit for office.
Yet publicly, Democratic senators largely refuse to criticize Fetterman – as they grapple with what to expect in the future from a senator whose term runs through 2028.
“I think we are all individuals here. He’s got the right to give his opinion just like the other 99 of us,” Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly told CNN.
Fetterman, for his part, said in an interview with HBO’s Bill Maher on Friday that, “Parts of my party just wants to turn me into a Colonel Kurtz,” referring to the antagonist who goes rogue and loses his mind in “Apocalypse Now.”
Democratic anger with Fetterman has been building in the last year – but was renewed last week when he accused his own party of failing to condemn violence at the anti-deportation protests in Los Angeles.
Most Democrats didn’t disagree with Fetterman that looting, burning self-driving cars and physically attacking law enforcement officers are wrong. But they quickly pointed out they’d already condemned that – even as Fetterman told CNN, “You can’t be quiet on those things.”
Fetterman’s comments, his former staffers and other Democratic aides on Capitol Hill believed, were again providing fodder for Republicans to use him to drive a wedge within the Democratic Party.
“He gives them cover by saying, ‘Oh, actually, Democrats are horrible on this thing’” a former aide told CNN. And then they can say, ‘See, even some Democrats agree.’”
Then, on “Real Time with Bill Maher” – after Democrats had already taken umbrage with his comments about Los Angeles – Fetterman again took aim at many within his own party again, criticizing progressives for opposing Israel’s war in Gaza.
“Our party, the Democratic Party, has lost that argument,” he said. “They’ve taken side with the regime that doesn’t have the kind of values and live the kind of ways that we want here in our country.”
He also said Israel “absolutely did the right thing” by bombing Iran’s nuclear facilities, calling it a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” to do so. And in an interview with Jewish Insider, Fetterman said it was “astonishing to see colleagues criticizing” Israel’s bombing of Iran.
“It’s like, do you think you can negotiate with that regime? Do you think you want to run that scenario and allow them to acquire 1,000 pounds of weapons grade uranium? I can’t understand, I can’t even begin to understand that,” Fetterman told Jewish Insider.
In a Fox News appearance on Tuesday, Fetterman said the Trump administration should use bunker-busting bombs to eliminate Iran’s nuclear facility. He also said that “if you have to take out Iran’s supreme leader, do it.”
“I’m unapologetically pro-Israel,” he said, acknowledging that “perhaps” he is an “outlier” within the Democratic Party.
He also accused Democrats of comparing Trump’s military parade marking the Army’s 250th anniversary last weekend to authoritarian displays.
“This is a 250th anniversary for the Army. I’m not sure why it’s outrageous to have a parade for the Army,” he said. “I don’t understand why that’s controversial.”
While Fetterman is largely isolated within his own party and facing criticism from some Democrats, including former staffers, he has built relationships with some Republicans.
In recent days, Politico reported that Fetterman dined at Butterworth’s, a Capitol Hill restaurant frequented by Republicans, with former top Trump strategist Steve Bannon and Matt Boyle, the Washington bureau chief for the right-wing Breitbart.
“The boldness and independence of Sen. Fetterman and his courage and willingness to speak out on several major issues of the day continues to amaze people from across the political spectrum,” Boyle, who did not disclose what they discussed at the dinner, told CNN. He said Fetterman had picked Butterworth’s as their meeting spot.
“While some Republicans are hoping he joins the Republican Party, I think he’s better served at helping fix the Democratic Party and return it to the common sense that it used to stand for,” Boyle added.
Fetterman ended an interview with CNN when asked about his dinner at Butterworth’s, saying, “That’s not news. And I think we are done.”
Among his closest allies on Capitol Hill is Alabama Sen. Katie Britt, a Republican who last month defended Fetterman in the wake of a New York Magazine report on his erratic behavior, saying he faced scrutiny from media and Democratic colleagues “all because he dares to be an independent thinker and voice.” He was the first Democratic lawmaker to travel to Mar-a-Lago after President Donald Trump’s victory last November.
Given Democrats are in the minority, he represents a swing state and he is not the deciding vote on any pressing legislation, aides and former staffers say the party is more willing to chalk up their frustrations with him to an eye roll or a shrug.
“I think the view is well at least he’s a Democrat. Better than having a Republican in that seat,” the former aide said.
The Pennsylvania senator insisted to Maher, just as he had in January after meeting Trump at Mar-a-Lago, that he will not leave the Democratic Party – a prospect that would have momentous consequences in Washington, where Republicans hold the Senate majority with 53 seats.
Fetterman said he’s watched perceptions of him shift from many believing he “was a socialist or a Marxist” early in his career, to now thinking “that I’m going to turn into MAGA,” referring to the acronym for Trump’s “Make America Great Again” campaign slogan.
“My values haven’t changed,” Fetterman said. “But I think in some cases, I think our party’s values have changed.”
In Washington, Democratic senators have publicly sought to give Fetterman room to break with the party at times – even as they sought to make clear they didn’t fit the criticism he’d levied against the party’s response to Los Angeles.
“Obviously people committing crimes, we should always speak out against that,” Kelly said.
Democratic Sen. Peter Welch said, “I condemn the violence, so I think all of us do.”
But when asked if Fetterman’s perspective is driving a wedge among Democrats, Welch said: “John has a unique voice. We love John.”
But a number of Democratic aides, granted anonymity to speak freely, shared how Fetterman’s positioning of himself compared to the rest of the party rubbed some the wrong way, from “eye rolls” to sharper critiques.
“His response is kind of baffling and makes it seem like he’s not really listening to what’s being said,” a senior Democratic staffer told CNN. “Democrats have been united on this, it’s been the party line and folks have gone out of their way to not give any room to be accused of being ok with the violent fringes. It’s a little embarrassing for him to be saying Democrats are silent.”
Another Democratic aide said Fetterman’s “reactionary politics are not a shock anymore.”
A third Democratic source, who pointed out the numerous statements from Democrats condemning the violence, said of Fetterman: “I’m not sure what he’s asking for.”
In Pennsylvania, meanwhile, frustration among the Democrats who chose Fetterman in a competitive three-way primary in 2022 has bubbled in recent months, with attendees at anti-Trump protests and town hall events also training their ire at the Democratic senator, according to local news reports.
One of those 2022 contenders, former Rep. Conor Lamb, has been hosting town halls across Pennsylvania – the result, he said, of Fetterman and the state’s Republican lawmakers refusing to hold their own public forums.
“People are just outraged that he’s not doing his job,” Lamb told CNN. “My experience has been that a lot of people have given up on him, really because he just keeps demonstrating contempt for the job.”
He said Democrats in Pennsylvania have found Fetterman difficult to reach for meetings, and characterized him as “contemptuous” of criticism of his history of missing votes in the Senate.
However, Lamb wouldn’t answer when asked if he plans to run against Fetterman again in 2028, and said he sees no realistic mechanism to oust the senator in the meantime.
“This has nothing to do with me,” Lamb said. “He’s the one who’s not working, and we’re three years away from the next election. None of his political opponents are forcing him to miss votes, pass no legislation, do nothing functional with the role. That’s his choice.”
