Sen. John Fetterman claims people on the left are hoping for his death: 'Rooting for another blood clot'

• Sen. John Fetterman is claiming that some progressives want him dead.
• "There are ones that are rooting for another blood clot," said the Pennsylvania Democrat.
• He's taken heat for his staunch defense of Israel and has begun disavowing the "progressive" label.

Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania is increasingly alienated from the progressive wing of his party — and he suspects that some on the left are wishing death upon him.

"What I have found out over the last couple years is that the right, and now the left, are hoping that I die," Fetterman told the New York Times. "There are ones that are rooting for another blood clot. They have both now been wishing that I die."

During his 2022 Senate campaign, Fetterman suffered a stroke driven by a blood clot. Though he still has an auditory processing disorder, his condition has since dramatically improved, particularly during his first year in office.

Nonetheless, beginning with the campaign and intensifying during his hospitalization for depression at the beginning of this year, Fetterman has faced vitriolic criticism from the right, including claims that he has a "body double" and that he's otherwise incapable of doing his job.

But in recent weeks, Fetterman's taken far more heat from the left than the right.

That's driven in large part by his staunch support for Israel, a position that's put him at odds with the progressives who thought he might be, at the very least, more willing to criticize the country's right-wing government as it conducts a large-scale bombing campaign in Gaza.

He's also resisted calls by some Democratic colleagues to place conditions on US aid to Israel.

"Zero. Zero conditions," Fetterman told Business Insider earlier this month. "I stand with Israel, and they shouldn't have any conditions."

And he's been dismissive of progressives more broadly, whether it's brushing aside concerns about potential changes to US immigration policy or mocking their gripes about him forking over money to George Santos for a Cameo video to troll indicted Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey.

"Progressives? Oh, no, really? Somehow we'll be okay with it, despite that," Fetterman said mockingly when asked about the criticism earlier this month. "They really gotta get over it."

In recent weeks, Fetterman's even begun disavowing the "progressive" label altogether — despite previously embracing it.

"It's just a place where I'm not," Fetterman told the Times. "I don't feel like I've left the label; it's just more that it's left me."