John Fetterman, the maverick Democratic senator who has sparked widespread anger by increasingly siding with Republicans, will be challenged for his Pennsylvania seat by a democratic socialist candidate from Gaza.
Ahmed Moor, a Palestinian American, said he would run in a primary to be the Democratic nominee in 2028, when Fetterman’s seat is up for re-election.
The move is the first sign of Fetterman’s weakening standing within the party since Democrats regained control of the Senate in last week’s U.S. midterm elections, when the party won at least 54 of the upper house’s 100 seats.
The prospect of a comfortable majority in the Senate effectively eliminates the possibility that Fetterman’s vote would be decisive, a relief for Democratic strategists who feared they could no longer count on his support on controversial issues.
Fetterman had already caused widespread disillusionment among many Pennsylvania Democrats, who campaigned for him in the 2022 midterms when he presented himself as a progressive outsider.
But he sparked anger by occasionally speaking in support of Donald Trump, who in turn praised Fetterman as “a great guy” and said he “would love” if he became a Republican.
Moor, 42, a writer and journalist born in Rafah in southern Gaza who previously wrote for the Guardian, told the Philadelphia Inquirer that he “wasn’t really running against Fetterman.”
“I’m running for good government. I’m running for the rule of law. I’m running because I believe in America,” he said.
But his Palestinian background poses a challenge to Fetterman’s staunchly pro-Israel stance, which has become increasingly vehement since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas that left about 1,200 people dead on the Israeli side. More than 74,000 Palestinians in Gaza – mostly women and children – have been killed in Israeli military reprisals.
Fetterman said he had no plans to leave the Democratic Party, but he strongly suggested he would change his mind if the party became “anti-Israel.”
“That’s my red line,” Fetterman said last July. “If the Democratic Party becomes officially anti-Israel, then I will force myself to leave. If they make it the official platform of the party, then the situation will be very different.”
Fetterman has met more often with Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, than with Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Moor, on the other hand, said he favored withdrawing U.S. aid to Israel and imposing sanctions aimed at ensuring equal rights for Palestinians.
Democrats say Moor likely won’t be the only challenger to Fetterman, who sparked outrage in his own party in September by sending a video message to the Republican midterm convention in Texas in which he congratulated Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Dave McCormick.
“I’m pretty sure you’ll see some bigger, more mainstream names involved,” said Mike Weidinger, a veteran Lancaster County Democrat with statewide connections, who cited Chris Deluzio, a Pittsburgh-area representative, and Malcolm Kenyatta, a Pennsylvania state lawmaker, as likely challengers.
“In general, people think that (Fetterman) misrepresented himself when he first showed up, or that he completely changed from who he claimed to be,” Weidinger said.
“We just had an election here in Pennsylvania where a lot of us busted our ass for (Pennsylvania Gov. Josh) Shapiro and a lot of other people, and he didn’t spend a dime or do anything for a single Democratic candidate here last week.”
Regarding the possibility of Fetterman joining the Republicans, he added: “If he wants to change, he can change. If the score had been 51 to 49, it would have mattered. But it doesn’t matter now.”
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