Fetterman Reveals ‘One Thing’ That Would Make Him Leave Dem Party
Fetterman Reveals ‘One Thing’ That Would Make Him Leave Dem Party
Sen. John Fetterman has been a Democrat all his adult life, and he continues to mostly vote along party lines.
There are, however, a few issues on which he has voted with Republicans.
Along those lines, Fetterman has also recently revealed one “red line” that, if the Democrats ever crossed it, would force him to renounce and leave his party: open hostility toward Israel.
The Pennsylvania senator addressed that red line again this week in a hallway interview with CNN.
“I‘ve always expressed my dismay at the way the Democratic Party continues to turn its back on Israel,” he said.
“So I‘ve said that publicly, like that‘s my red line. If the Democratic Party becomes officially anti-Israel, then that‘s when I would force myself out,” he said.
A CNN panel discussed Fetterman’s comments on Friday.
“I‘ll help him pack his bags. Good riddance. This is a this is this is the biggest non-threat I think I‘ve ever seen,” Luke Thomas, host of the “Morning Kombat” podcast, said.
“I realize that, I mean, to your point, you said this has been telegraphed,” he continued.
“You have seen evidence of him in his voting record, not merely on Israel, on other issues too, for example, on the government shutdown and not getting the ACA (Affordable Care Act) subsidies,” he continued.
He went on to criticize Fetterman over other positions he has taken politically before revealing the results of a Quinnipiac University poll released this week saying that in his home state, he has a 77 percent approval rating among Republicans versus a 19 percent approval rating among Democrat voters.
“That is what a Latin American president at the end of his term is getting,” Thomas added.
Earlier this week, Fetterman turned heads when he launched a joint fundraising effort with a Republican senator.
Pennsylvania’s two U.S. senators, despite representing opposing parties, have teamed up to create a joint fundraising committee ahead of the 2026 midterm elections and the 2028 campaign cycle.
The committee, called Common Ground PA, has been registered with the Federal Election Commission.
FEC records showed that Common Ground PA listed four joint fundraising PACs: Every Vote PAC, Pennsylvania Honor, Fetterman for PA, and Friends of Dave McCormick.
“Fetterman is listed as the leadership PAC sponsor for Every Vote PAC, while McCormick is named as the leadership PAC sponsor for Pennsylvania Honor,” local media reported, citing information contained in the filing.
“This is a donor-driven effort,” Mike DeVanney, a McCormick campaign spokesman, told The Center Square.
“This group of donors value the collaboration exhibited by Senators McCormick and Fetterman for Pennsylvania and want to support both of them,” Devanney added.
Fetterman’s repeated disagreements with the Democratic Party’s progressive wing—particularly over U.S. support for Israel and the growing influence of Democratic Socialists—have fueled speculation that he could eventually switch parties as Republicans and Democrats continue to battle for control of the Senate.
The fundraising collaboration is drawing criticism already from the hard left.
“So so bad,” Fox News analyst and lefty Jessica Tarlov remarked on X.
Rick Wilson, the one-time pretend Republican who sprinted to Democrats following President Trump’s first election victory, speculated that Fetterman is “gonna flip.”
Fetterman has repeatedly distanced himself from the Democrat Party’s rising socialist wing, arguing that members of what he described as the “dirtbag left” no longer belong under the Democratic banner.
Speaking during an interview at the Kennedy Center’s Mark Twain Prize event, Fetterman said the recent success of candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists of America reflects the rise of a political movement that he believes is fundamentally different from the mainstream Democratic Party.
“It was a really it was a really big night for the dirtbag left. You know, last week, without a doubt,” he said.
Nearly 150,000 California Mail Ballots Rejected In Primary
California election officials are examining why nearly 150,000 mail-in ballots were rejected during the state’s June primary, with late-arriving ballots accounting for most of the increase.
The higher rejection rate comes despite years of election law changes designed to make voting more accessible and ensure more ballots are ultimately counted.
According to data compiled by the California Secretary of State’s office, 148,241 mail-in ballots were rejected during the June primary, representing 1.73% of all mail ballots returned.
That marks an increase from the 2024 primary, when 108,982 ballots were rejected, or 1.56% of all mail ballots cast.
The largest reason for rejection was ballots arriving too late to qualify under California law.
State data shows that 93,479 ballots were rejected because they failed to meet the state’s deadline requirements.
California allows mail ballots to arrive up to seven days after Election Day, provided they are postmarked on or before Election Day.
Voting experts believe many of the rejected ballots received postmarks dated after Election Day, making them ineligible to be counted even if they arrived within the seven-day grace period.
Kim Alexander, president of the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation, said the timing of postal processing appears to be a significant concern.
“Ballots rejected due to lateness are caused primarily to being postmarked too late to count, not because they arrived too late to count,” Alexander said.
Election experts have questioned whether recent operational changes within the U.S. Postal Service may be contributing to delayed postmarks.
Earlier this year, a group of mostly Democratic U.S. senators wrote to the Postal Service expressing concern that mail-processing changes could affect ballot handling during federal elections.
Updated Postal Service procedures mean postmarks may reflect when mail is processed at regional facilities rather than when it first enters the mail system.
Because processing centers have been consolidated in some areas, election officials have warned that postmark timing could be affected.
Before the June primary, California election officials encouraged voters to mail ballots as early as possible because of potential postal delays.
The June election also featured a highly competitive race for governor, which some experts believe encouraged many voters to wait until the final days before casting ballots.
In addition to late-arriving ballots, approximately 44,000 ballots were rejected because election officials determined the voter’s signature did not match the signature on file.
Another 8,300 ballots were rejected because the return envelope did not contain a signature.
State records also show that 743 ballots were rejected because those voters had already cast another ballot.
Other rejected ballots involved missing ballots inside return envelopes or multiple ballots submitted in a single envelope.
The highest rejection rate in the state occurred in Tulare County, where 3.52% of returned mail ballots were rejected.
Alpine County and Merced County followed closely, each recording rejection rates of 3.36%.
California has frequently faced criticism for taking weeks to complete vote counting after major elections, largely because state law permits ballots meeting certain requirements to continue arriving after Election Day.
Following the June primary, President Donald Trump again criticized California’s election system, while the Department of Justice opened an investigation into election administration in Los Angeles County.
Election experts emphasize that the increase in rejected ballots should not be interpreted as evidence of widespread voter fraud.
A 2025 report by the Brookings Institution found documented cases of mail ballot fraud remained extremely rare, estimating roughly four cases for every 10 million mail ballots cast, The Associated Press reported.
State officials have not identified evidence of widespread fraud connected to the June primary, but the increase in rejected ballots is expected to receive additional scrutiny as election administrators evaluate whether changes in postal operations, voter behavior or election procedures contributed to the higher rejection rate.
