John Fetterman Now Embraced by Conservatives

Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman has been embraced by conservatives after stripping away his self-proclaimed title of a "progressive" Democrat.

In a recent NBC News interview, Fetterman said "I'm not a progressive," despite identifying with the far-left group in the past. In 2016, after losing his first Senate race, Fetterman wrote on Twitter, now X: "We have started a progressive movement here in Pennsylvania."

The senator who used to introduce himself at political events as "a Democrat and a progressive," posted on X this week: "I'm not a progressive, I'm just a regular Democrat."

Fetterman's new political stance seemed to please conservatives who criticized him during his successful Senate run in 2022 and during his early days in Congress.

The hosts of Fox News' Fox & Friends recently praised Fetterman.

Brian Kilmeade said Fetterman is someone who gives him "hope for the country."

"It's weird to see this transition, because I find myself every single week retweeting something that Fetterman has said," Lawrence Jones said, noting Fetterman's strong support for Israel.

Fetterman has been a vocal supporter of Israel since it was attacked by the Palestinian militant-group Hamas on October 7. Israel subsequently launched a military operation in Gaza, targeting members of Hamas but also killing innocent civilians.

He reiterated his stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and shared an openness to discuss immigration policy in his NBC interview.

"I just think I'm a Democrat that is very committed to choice and other things," he said. "But with Israel, I'm going to be on the right side of that. And immigration is something near and dear to me, and I think we do have to effectively address it, as well."

Fetterman called immigration "a reasonable conversation" and addressed the massive influx of illegal immigrants coming in through the southern border.

"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," Fetterman said. "To put that in reference, that is essentially the size of Pittsburgh, the second-largest city in Pennsylvania."

Raheem Kassam, editor-in-chief of The National Pulse, wrote on X on Wednesday: "Heck of a situation when @JohnFetterman sounds more America First than most Republicans in the U.S. Senate."

Conservative political commentator Tomi Lahren posted on X on Thursday: "Is @JohnFetterman the unlikely voice of reason?!"

Some X users were pleasantly surprised by Fetterman's recent remarks.

Casey Strawn wrote: "He's labeled as Democrat, but lately, speaks Conservative.... in regards to PA. Perhaps all isn't lost with him? Idk...."

"The world is clearly upside down for this is the 3rd time where I have agreed Senator Fetterman," Pamela Sedmak wrote.

Franc Pea wrote: "Did Fetterman wake up from a coma. He's acting a bit more normal."

Newsweek reached out to Fetterman's office via email for comment.