Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) hammered fellow Democrat and Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner as a “ghoul” and “Nazi sympathizer” on Tuesday in the latest example of the Pennsylvanian’s willingness to break with some members of his party over Israel.
Speaking at the American Jewish Committee’s annual global forum in Washington alongside Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.), Fetterman cited Platner, a former U.S. Marine who recently covered up an SS skull-and-crossbones tattoo that he says he got while drinking on leave in Croatia, as an example of Democrats who have gained prominence from opposing the Jewish state.
“We’re old enough to remember that if somebody had a Nazi tattoo, they’re a Nazi sympathizer,” Fetterman said. “But now that’s OK. People will defend that, or they’ll just kind of explain that away.”
In recent days, Platner, who polls suggest could unseat Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) in a key race for control of the Senate, has also been the subject of media reports about sexual messages that he sent to as many as a dozen women after his marriage in 2023. Primary elections in Maine are on June 9.
Fetterman pointed to Platner’s history of controversial comments as evidence of his unsuitability for office.
“This is the guy that was absolutely cheering Hamas. There was a video that Hamas put online where they go and beat and torture IDF soldiers, and he said, ‘I dig it,’” Fetterman said, referring to comments that Platner posted on social media in reply to a video of a Hamas attack in 2014.
“What kind of ghoul lurks on the internet back in 2014 celebrating that kind of barbarity?” the senator said. “Well, that’s the kind of guy that would have that kind of tattoo.”
The Pennsylvania Democrat called the anti-Israel turn among many members of his party “heartbreaking” but said that he would not change his own views.
He named J Street, the liberal Jewish group that describes itself as pro-Israel but has recently reversed course on its support for military aid to Israel, and Chris Rabb, the Democratic nominee for a Pennsylvania congressional seat who has made opposing Israel a centerpiece of his campaign, as pushing for the “disgusting” proposal to cut off U.S. support for Iron Dome.
“I’m a student of history, and what history has consistently demonstrated is that people and society will turn their back on the Jewish community when they’re under siege,” Fetterman said.
“In my party as a Democrat, I early on assumed that this was going to happen, and I announced to all of them, ‘I plan to be the last man standing,’” he said.
“If it isolates me, then so be it,” he said. “It’s been the easiest choice I’ve ever made here in my political career.”
Fetterman is not up for re-election until 2028, but polls suggest that if he were to run again, he would be ripe for a primary challenge driven by the unpopularity of his positions on Israel and Iran among Democrats.
A Quinnipiac poll in February found that Fetterman is more popular in Pennsylvania among Republicans than Democrats, with 62% of Democrats disapproving of his job performance and just 22% approving.
Some 73% of Republicans in Pennsylvania reported approving of Fetterman, with 18% disapproving, according to the poll.
Ted Deutch, CEO of the American Jewish Committee, told JNS that antisemitism was underlying much of the newfound opposition to Israel in the current American political climate.
“I would suggest that what’s happening now, in so many places and starting with politics, is not more people questioning Israel,” Deutch said. “What we’ve seen is a spread of antisemitism that looks different than it has in the past, but it’s still fundamentally based on lies.”
“It’s the conspiracy theories about Jews that have now become conspiracy theories about Israel, but in both cases, these are lies hurled at the Jewish people—something that we have unfortunately become accustomed to over millennia,” he told JNS.
