‘Spare me’: Senator’s bold threat backfires as ‘tiresome performance’ has worn out

A sitting senator’s bold threat to leave his party if it crosses his proverbial “red line” drew sharp criticism on Sunday as an analyst argued that the lawmaker’s “tiresome performance” has worn out.

Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) has threatened to leave the Democratic Party if it votes to end financial aid to Israel, which he described as his “red line.” Fetterman’s comments came after more than 100 Democrats voted to withdraw U.S. support for Israel amid its incursions into Lebanon and Jordan, as well as the ongoing onslaught against Palestinians. The vote also caused the American Israel Public Affairs Committee to close its donor portal doors to Democrats who voted for the measure, according to reports.

Jack Hopkins, a former institutional resilience advisor, scorched Fetterman’s threat in a new Substack essay.

“A threat. From a sitting Democrat. Aimed at his own party. Delivered, naturally…with a camera rolling,” Hopkins wrote. “And the pundits called it principle. Bravery. A man of conviction. Spare me.”

Fetterman has been a pain in the neck for Democrats since he was elected to Congress. For instance, he has rebuked the Democratic Party’s progressive wing as the “dirtbag left” and has stood firmly against his party on policy debates such as immigration and government funding, according to reports.

Hopkins argued that Fetterman’s latest threat was part of his “long, tiresome performance” in Congress.

“This was not courage. It was the loudest tell yet in a long … tiresome performance,” Hopkins wrote. “Because John Fetterman has spent his entire Senate term doing one thing exceptionally well: collecting the benefits of the ‘D’ next to his name while doing everything in his power to spite the people who put it there.”