John Fetterman may have always looked like a hobo, despite being worth millions. But when it comes to politics, he says he's found himself actually homeless. And unfortunately, there are more than a few conservatives clamoring to offer him a roof.
The Pennsylvania senator, once a darling of the left-wing movement despite his seeming inability to function (or dress professionally) and who previously boasted of launching “a progressive movement here in Pennsylvania” back in 2016, now says he rejects the label of “progressive” thanks to the left becoming more and more radical.
“It’s just a place where I’m not,” Fetterman said in an interview this week with The New York Times. “I don’t feel like I’ve left the label; it’s just more that it’s left me.”
The senator then tweeted the same statement, saying, “I’m not a progressive. I’m just a regular Democrat.”
“I’m not a progressive, I'm just a regular Democrat.” https://t.co/M1OER4beUI
— John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) December 18, 2023
Needless to say, that didn't sit well with more than a few liberals, who let the senator know it in the comments section.
Fetterman has come under fire from fellow Democrats and left-wing constituents for his unwavering support for Israel in recent months, going so far as to wallpaper his office with photos of Israeli hostages being held by Hamas and openly mocking angry pro-Palestine supporters on Capitol Hill. But he says he’s confused as to why anyone would be shocked by his stance, saying he’s always supported Israel and their right to defend themselves - especially against violent terrorism.
“I’m not really sure what part of any of this would be a surprise if anyone’s been paying attention,” he said, adding that Israel is the only “progressive nation” in the Middle East.
“I do find it confusing where the very left progressives in America don’t seem to want to support really the only progressive nation in the region that really embraces the same kind of values I would expect we would want as a society.”
Fetterman has also taken a more moderate stand on immigration and border security following a deluge of illegal aliens flooding into the United States and overwhelming major U.S. cities with no end in sight.
“It’s a reasonable conversation — until somebody can say there’s an explanation on what we can do when 270,000 people are being encountered on the border, not including the ones, of course, that we don’t know about,” he said. “To put that in reference, that is essentially the size of Pittsburgh, the second-largest city in Pennsylvania.”
Those positions have earned Fetterman a slew of backlash and even open accusations of being a traitor from his own political camp. The Philadelphia Inquirer published an op-ed on December 17 ripping Fetterman’s “betrayal of progressives” and blaming him for alienating younger voters.
On the flip side, surprised conservatives have come out in droves to praise Fetterman for what they see as a bold stance against his own party.
"Fetterman is truly becoming one of my favorite politicians on the left," wrote Meghan McCain on X.
"Fetterman has become more American first than 80% of the GOP," another user wrote.
Right-leaning blogger Ian Miles Cheong opined, "John Fetterman is now a de facto conservative."
Related: CoComelon, Christmas, & Chick-fil-a: The Left’s All-Out War on Christians | TBHS
All of which speak to a longstanding problem within the Right: our absolute and confounding inability to watch a traditionally left-leaning person - be it a politician, a celebrity, an athlete, or [insert category of famousness here] - step even marginally outside their expected party line without absolutely peeing ourselves like middle school fangirls at a Taylor Swift concert. We do it all the time.
Dave Chappelle has received wild adoration from the right for his comments supporting free speech and knocks against cancel culture, quickly catapulting him to near-hero status among some conservatives despite his open support for abortion and consistent support of Democrats on the campaign trail.
Bruce "Caitlyn" Jenner became a spokesperson for the right and even landed a gig on Fox News for his public support of Donald Trump, despite the fact that he, still very much a biological male, masquerades as a woman, helping to perpetuate one of the most insidious lies currently ripping through our society like a cancer. But he likes low taxes, so it's fine.
Even Elon Musk, one of the right's current most favored darlings for his fierce support of free speech and thought, seems to enjoy a blind eye when it comes to his company Tesla paying travel expenses for employees who travel out of state to get an abortion. Sure, he's directly funding infanticide - but he thinks made-up pronouns are silly just like us. We'll let it slide.
From musicians, actresses and sports stars to entrepreneurs, politicians, and judges, even the remotest right-leaning nudge or whim among an otherwise solid leftist is immediately met with echoing chants of "One of us!" across conservative Twitter and picked up by pundits unable to simply head-nod a single correct statement in a vacuum without going all-in like an exhausted fisherman who finally feels a nibble on the line. And while supporting free speech is a fundamental tenant of conservatism, it's not suddenly incumbent upon us to accept under our umbrella any and everyone who also supports speaking freely, when the things they say don't line up with the vast majority - or, in some cases, any - of our other principles.
And yet, here we've found ourselves yet again. Despite his claims that he’s not a “progressive” (and following his longstanding history of claiming the opposite on the campaign trail), Fetterman’s positions still include more than a few far-left ticket items, his support for Israel and border security notwithstanding.
He still advocates for abortion on demand and with no restrictions.
He still supports Biden’s call for a ban on “military-grade assault weapons” (a term that has no tangible and consistent meaning, but which is generally understood to include AR-15s, one of the most commonly owned guns in America), even going so far as to say it should be illegal to even own one.
He opposes school vouchers that would give low-income parents a choice in where to send their kids, despite sending his own children to a high-end private school. He publicly opposed Florida's Parental Rights in Education bill that says parents have a right to decide how to raise their own children and a right to know what schools are teaching their kids, and that preschoolers shouldn't be taught about cross-dressing.
He still supports radically left-wing, socialist wealth redistribution from those who earned their money to those who did not, despite he himself being worth more than $2 million. He still supports big government spending and control, including the left's climate change agenda that dumps gobs of taxpayer cash into "green" initiatives at the expense of consumers, employers, and the free market.
It’s cool that Fetterman backs Israel as they fight off terrorists who murdered hundreds of their people. And props for saying that our border spewing like a busted fire hydrant is a problem - a pretty obvious crisis, despite most Democrats' unwillingness to say so.
But you'll have to forgive me if I'm not over here with a pile of gold stars ready to hand them all out for taking the obviously correct moral stance on a couple of issues that, frankly, shouldn't be up for debate in the first place. And I sure as heck won't be handing out the label of "conservative" to anyone whose track record falls solidly on the left about 99% of the day.
Because if you’re for killing babies up until their due date and seizing guns from law-abiding Americans in violation of the U.S. Constitution, if you're all for squashing industries in the name of "environmentalism" that shifts control from the people to the government, if you're for forcing children into failing public schools and allowing teachers to secretly "transition" kids while robbing parents of their money, their choice, and their rights, that still ranks you pretty “progressive” in my book.
No matter how social media feels at the moment.
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