Fetterman: Naming Van Hollen majority leader ‘would be troubling’

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) hinted that he could leave the Democratic Party if Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) is elected as the Senate Majority Leader.

“Yeah, absolutely, it would be troubling if my caucus elects someone like Van Hollen that has really made his name being very anti … hostile to Israel,” Fetterman said when asked if there is a “red line” for him to walk away from the party, in a Fox News interview.

Fetterman’s remarks come after Van Hollen said Thursday that he would challenge Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) for the role of the majority leader.

“In this election, Americans called on us to unrig an economy rigged against working people & fueled by political corruption,” Van Hollen wrote in a post on social platform X. “To deliver, we need new leadership. This isn’t about any one person – it’s about answering that call.”

Fetterman has previously warned that if the Democratic party becomes “the anti-Israel party,” he would leave.

In his recent Fox interview, Fetterman said, “If you are going to be angry or hostile towards any countries in the region, why not make that, you know, Iran, or Hezbollah or Hamas as well too?.”

Shortly after the midterm elections, where Democrats swept up the country in a “blue wave,” Schumer said that he expects to have the votes to be elected as the majority leader.

Several Democrats have said they would not back Schumer. This includes Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), as well as incoming senators Adam Hamilton (D-Kan.), Annie Andrews (D-S.C.), Abdul El-Sayed (D-Mich.) and Troy Jackson (D-Maine).

The leadership bids come after the Democrats secured a sweeping victory in the midterm elections last week, taking control of both chambers of Congress. The party currently holds 55 Senate seats, after Mississippi Democrat Scott Colom defeated Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in the state’s competitive Senate race.

The only state that has not called its Senate race is Alaska, where Democrat Mary Peltola is challenging Sen. Dan Sullivan (R).