Fetterman Says No 'Common Ground' Left With Far-Left Democrats Over Israel

On Saturday, Sen. John Fetterman, the Pennsylvania Democrat, sat down with Fox News host Kayleigh McEnany on "Saturday in America" and said he no longer expects to find "any more common ground" with the far-left wing of his party on Israel. He described a deep difference of opinion with those colleagues over Israel and the Jewish community more broadly.

The interview came days after Democrats won back both the House and the Senate in the midterms. Fetterman used it to criticize two fights now unfolding inside his party. One is a leadership challenge to Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York. The other is a 2028 primary campaign against Fetterman himself.

The leadership challenge began on Thursday, when Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland announced he would try to replace Schumer. He has backing from progressive figures including Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan. Asked whether a Van Hollen win would cross a red line for him, Fetterman said it would be troubling if his caucus chose someone who had made his name by being hostile to Israel. He also said Van Hollen drew attention for his trip to El Salvador to meet Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran migrant the Trump administration deported. Beyond that, Fetterman said, he could not think of what Van Hollen is known for, though he called him a progressive darling. He said he does not see a path for Van Hollen to become leader, but allowed that it was possible, noting that people had protested at his own events the previous weekend, demanding that senators vote against Schumer.

Fetterman framed the infighting as self-defeating. After what he called massive wins, he said, Democrats immediately returned to fighting among themselves, and he asked whether they could simply take the win.

On Iran, he said that anyone who cannot identify it as an enemy committed to destroying Israel and the United States represents the kind of person the Democratic Party has elected. He argued that Iran assumes Democrats are unlikely to hold its government accountable, and said the party deserves to have that conversation.

Fetterman then turned to Ahmed Moor, a Gaza-born Palestinian-American writer and activist who announced earlier in the week that he will challenge him in the 2028 Democratic primary. Fetterman called Moor "pro-Hamas" and said he was very proud of it. He acknowledged that parts of his own Democratic base find his strong support for Israel troubling or offensive compared with Moor's views, but said he will always support Israel.

Moor's campaign answered in a statement to Fox News Digital. It said Moor condemns violence against civilians by anyone and runs on a platform of dignity, justice and the rule of law, including spending American tax dollars in ways that benefit Americans rather than on killing innocent people abroad. The campaign said those positions match the views of most Pennsylvanians, whom it accused Fetterman of failing to represent. It added that Moor supports an arms embargo and targeted sanctions until Palestinians have equal rights, and that he would fight antisemitism and anti-Palestinian racism with equal conviction.

Fetterman also said he hopes the party does not revert to its worst impulses. He called for bipartisan work on the national debt, artificial intelligence, Iran and Social Security, and said he will extend that cooperation to the White House if possible, adding that his votes will follow that approach. Fox News Digital said it had asked Van Hollen for comment.

What to watch is whether the Schumer leadership contest hardens the divide Fetterman describes, and how the Moor campaign develops ahead of 2028.