John Fetterman insists he is NOT a progressive in stern message to liberal Democrats: Senator hints border policy should be tougher and he wants to be on the ‘right side’ of Israel

Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania denied being a progressive in an interview released Friday, saying he has broken away from the far-left side of his party in recent weeks.

Unlike members of the so-called “Squad,” Fetterman has shown strong support for Israel since the October 7 Hamas terror attack.

Moreover, he has hinted that the U.S. should tighten its southern border policy, a position that some on the left consider inhumane.

'I'm not a progressive' Fetterman told NBC News. “I just think I'm a Democrat who's very interested in choices and other things. But when it comes to Israel, I'm on the right side. And immigration is something that is close to my heart, and I think we need to tackle it effectively.”

Fetterman has also voiced — loudly and in creative ways — that Democrats should push Sen. Bob Menendez out of the Senate after the New Jersey lawmaker was indicted on charges including acting as an agent of Egypt.

Democratic Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania said in an interview with NBC News that he is “not a progressive” break with the left of his party on support for Israel and immigration policy.

Senator John Fetterman was seen with an Israeli flag draped over his shoulders at the March for Israel rally on the National Mall in November. Members of the Left-wing Squad have called for the defunding of Israel because the government has killed Palestinian civilians who tried to eradicate Hamas.

New funding for the war in Ukraine and in support of Israel has been held up in Congress amid Republican demands to tighten the U.S.-Mexico border.

Fetterman said it was “not ideal to tie this conversation” about immigration to the financing of Israel and Ukraine. financing application.

“Progressives can do that better because we can't sell out Israel — we can't sell them out, and we can't sell out Ukraine, and we have to deliver on that,” Fetterman told the station. “I would really like to make a deal to deliver this vital aid.”

On immigration, Fetterman — whose wife arrived in the U.S. as an undocumented immigrant at age 7 — argued that he can be both pro-immigration and in favor of policies to limit the flow of immigrants across the southern border to manageable levels.

“It's a reasonable conversation — until someone can say there's an explanation of what we can do if 270,000 people are found at the border, obviously not the ones we don't know about,” he said.

“Just for reference, that's essentially the size of Pittsburgh, the second largest city in Pennsylvania,” the Democrat added.

Before becoming Pennsylvania's lieutenant governor and then senator, Fetterman served as mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania, just outside Pittsburgh.

He was elected last November after a hard-fought campaign against Republican television personality Dr. Mehmet Oz.

Fetterman successfully characterized Oz as a carpetbagger from New Jersey while receiving a letter from Pennsylvania voters about his health — Fetterman suffered a near-fatal stroke just days before the Democratic primary in May and spent most of the summer with recovering and off the campaign trail.

Since being sworn in, Fetterman has been hospitalized for depression, a struggle he speaks about publicly.

He has also been public in his advocacy to rid the Senate of Menendez.

“Oh, Bob Menendez,” Fetterman said, laughing. 'What a guy. What a guy. He's still running his mouth against Biden right now.”

Menendez has been critical of Biden's willingness to negotiate an immigration deal with Republicans.

'He has to go. I don't understand why he can be here after he evicted Santos,” Fetterman said, referring to the New York Republican who was impeached earlier this month. “But I'm sure there could be a very innocent explanation for having gold bars in your mattress and overstuffed envelopes of cash.”