John Fetterman will speak at Florida Democratic Party gala. Progressives want it cancelled.
Fetterman will deliver the keynote speech for a Saturday gala at Disney’s Contemporary Resort in Lake Buena Vista as part of the Florida party’s weekend-long Leadership Blue conference.
Sen. John Fetterman is being hosted by the Florida Democratic Party this weekend, but a group of Sunshine State progressives aren’t happy about it.
Fetterman (D., Pa.) will deliver the keynote speech for a Saturday gala at Disney’s Contemporary Resort in Lake Buena Vista as part of the Florida party’s weekend-long Leadership Blue conference — its most important fundraiser of the year.
The Pennsylvania senator has been unflinching in his support of Israel since Hamas militants raided the country, killing around 1,200 people and abducting about 250 hostages. But his support has drawn ire from activists angered by Israel’s war in Gaza, which has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians and displaced about 80% of Gaza’s population.
The Florida Democratic Progressive Caucus, a group within the state’s Democratic Party, called for Fetterman’s speech to be cancelled because of his “unwavering support for Israel’s actions,” according to a Wednesday letter shared on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, by The Bulwark reporter Marc Caputo.
Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried said Fetterman’s 2022 victory against Republican Mehmet Oz, a celebrity doctor, can serve as a blueprint for the Senate race in Florida this year, in a Tuesday announcement about his speech.
“Senator John Fetterman is not your traditional politician,” Fried said. “He is a powerful voice for the Democratic Party and embodies the spirit of Florida Democrats — never backing down from a fight.”
In their letter, members of the progressive caucus argued that it would be “a direct affront to the principles of democracy and justice” to platform Fetterman, who they accuse of abandoning “progressive values” and using “divisive rhetoric.”
“John Fetterman, once touted as a progressive champion, has betrayed the trust of his constituents by swiftly pivoting away from the platform he was elected on,” the letter said. “His recent statements and actions, particularly regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, stand in stark contrast to the values of equality, justice, and peace that his supporters stand for.”
Fetterman has been viewed as casting aside his progressivism through his support of Israel, but he said in an interview earlier this year that he has been open about not being a progressive. He called himself a progressive prior to his 2022 swing-state Senate bid, but described himself as “just a Democrat” on the campaign trail.
» READ MORE: Progressives say John Fetterman has abandoned them. But he says he hasn’t changed.
Like the Florida party chair, Fetterman views his visit in context of the election this year.
“I fully embrace a diversity of views within the Democratic party but we’re 6 months out from the presidential race, and we’ve got to be united on reelecting Joe Biden,” he said in a statement this week regarding the letter. “The stakes are too high. Just this week in Florida, we’ve got an abortion ban going into effect. We can’t let these disagreements lead to a second Trump term.”
The Inquirer reached out to the Florida Democratic Party for comment about the letter and is awaiting a response.