PA Sen. John Fetterman, who’s made waves for defiantly standing up against the progressive base over the Israel-Hamas conflict, issued a new statement today, slamming Harvard University’s decision to schedule an Associate Professor at Arab American University, Dr. Dalal Saeb Iriqat, as a speaker in its “Middle East Dialogues” series.
Fetterman tweeted.
I am truly appalled that the Kennedy School would platform an individual who celebrates and justifies Hamas' October 7th killing of Israeli citizens—babies, children, the elderly, and the systemic, rape, mutilation, and torture of young girls and women. https://t.co/pxDXDQODD7
— Senator John Fetterman (@SenFettermanPA) February 4, 2024
And followed that with another.
This hate has absolutely no place in any sanctioned dialogue. Decency would demand it relegated to the sewer of social media fringe.
— Senator John Fetterman (@SenFettermanPA) February 4, 2024
As an alumni and a member of the United States Senate, 25 years later it's hard to recognize my former university.
The Dean of the School, it should be noted, said he finds Iriqat’s views, personally “abhorrent” and has also scheduled speakers such as Jared Kushner who will likely deliver a much more pro-Israel message.
As for Iriqat, those views.
She tweeted, following Hamas’ October 7 invasion that the atrocities were “just a normal human struggle 4 #Freedom” and followed that by claiming, “The Israeli public need to realize that their own government had caused all this bloodshed and they remain the ones responsible for this escalatin (sic) and losses of civilians lives.”
In essence, she called the October 7th invasion a “normal human struggle for freedom” and an escalation that was Israel’s fault.
Hence, Fettterman’s outrage that Harvard is hosting her.
As for 2028, Fetterman clearly hasn’t endeared himself to the left, activist base, and there’s no indication whatsoever he wants to run.
The reason he’s included in this site is that — if – and this is a giant “if,” Republicans punish Democrats at the polls in ’24 or ’26 for having drifted too far left and too far up (as, in, upper class concerns over working class concerns), there might be some rethinking regarding the party’s direction.
Enter Fetterman, who has a natural ease with the working class, and absolutely no qualms slamming leftist activists.
However, as we’ve seen with Trump, the GOP itself never reevaluated its association with him nor its fringe elements after 2020’s loss and subsequent shellacklings, so you have to wonder whether the Democratic party has the ability to reevaluate or whether – just like the GOP – it has become something entirely new and impervious to any establishment hopes to drift back to the center.
If that’s the case, then indeed, there’s no room for Fetterman. Just as there’s no room in the GOP for Liz Cheney or Mitt Romney.
Which…. still makes Fetterman a viable name for 2028 – as an independent candidate, or someone who could create enough of a stir to shake up the race in ways far more profound than even Robert Kennedy is doing right now.
Keep in mind – Kennedy’s natural base going into all this was simply anti-vaxxers and people intrigued by the name. Fetterman is a sitting Democratic senator, who’s proven he can win perhaps the most important state in the country, and would start any 3rd party bid far ahead of where Kennedy was.