Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman claps back at New York Times reporter Lulu Garcia-Navarro over a question about Israel’s war on terror in an interview published Saturday.
García-Navarro criticized Fetterman’s unwavering support for Israel after the deadly Oct. 7, 2023 attack by the Islamic terrorist group Hamas. lots of questions. The Democratic senator remained consistent when pressed about Israel’s explosive pager attack in mid-September that targeted Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon.
Fetterman told a New York Times reporter that he “absolutely refuses to accept Israeli pager attacks,” even though the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh chapters of the Council on American-Islamic Relations condemned him in a joint statement released in late September. He said he supports the project. (Related: Democratic senator marvels at Trump’s support in key battleground states as “surprising”)
“They said, ‘When our elected officials begin condoning the loss of civilian life, our collective moral compass is irreparably compromised,'” Garcia said. Navarro said.
“Members of Hezbollah were targeted. As you know, no one would use a buzzer in a situation like that other than a member of Hezbollah,” Fetterman countered.
“A young child was killed,” said a NYT reporter.
“Unfortunately, tragically, because my dad was a member of Hezbollah,” Fetterman responded. “He brought that danger and evil into their home, which tragically resulted in the death of that poor child.”
“That’s what’s so bad about it. Her father was a Hezbollah terrorist and she paid the price for that,” he added.
Garcia-Navarro earlier asked Fetterman if he thought Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was working to help elect Trump, and the Democratic senator said he didn’t believe that. .
“I don’t believe that. I wouldn’t do that. If you think that might be the case, I don’t see why it would be helpful to say it publicly,” Fetterman said. “I have to believe that the university protests and many other things will give Hamas an opportunity to revel in this division. But now they have little left to celebrate.”
