Republican challenger Bob Casey praises Fetterman for his clear stance on Israel

Republican Senate candidate Dave McCormick applauded Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) for his outspoken defense of Israel, a compliment that doubled as a critique of his home state colleague, Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA).

McCormick, a West Point graduate and former Bush administration official, will compete against Casey in the fall and has made support for Israel a litmus test in the race. The two have positioned themselves as allies of Israel, but McCormick has run to Casey’s right on the issue, highlighting the senator’s support for the Iran nuclear deal and endorsement of Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA), a “Squad” Democrat who is critical of the Jewish state.

Fetterman has left no question as to where he stands on the topic, loudly rebuffing progressive calls for a ceasefire as Israel wages a casualty-heavy war in Gaza. More recently, he called the Biden administration’s decision to pause ammunition shipments to Israel a “mistake” and has denounced the antisemitism on display at campus protests.

“If John Fetterman and I went out for a cup of coffee right now, we’d probably disagree on 90% of everything. But on Israel, man, he’s been a voice of clarity,” McCormick told the Washington Examiner in a Tuesday interview.

McCormick struck a note of bipartisanship, calling support for Israel “bigger than Republicans and Democrats” before laying into his opponent’s record.

Casey has resisted Democratic calls to place conditions on aid to Israel and has received almost $600,000 in donations from the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC. But the McCormick camp has accused Casey of pressuring Israel to “abandon course and accept defeat” after he said the country could “do more” to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.

On Lee, Casey supported her 2024 run for Congress but recently told reporters he doesn’t agree with her “on every issue.”

“The contrast with Bob Casey is extremely notable because that’s what moral clarity looks like. You never wonder where John Fetterman stands,” McCormick said.

Fetterman rejected the praise with a tongue-in-cheek reference to Connecticut, where McCormick spent years as a hedge fund manager. McCormick was born and raised in the Pittsburgh area and bought a house in Pennsylvania to run for Senate in 2022.

“Well, I went to graduate school in his home state, so I can only have good things to say about him, too,” Fetterman said of his Master of Business Administration from the University of Connecticut. “We have a special bond over Connecticut.”

McCormick fell less than a thousand votes short of facing Fetterman last cycle, losing to Trump-endorsed Mehmet Oz in the Republican primary. Fetterman went on to win that race by 5 points, while Casey leads McCormick in polling by a similar margin.

The McCormick campaign has leaned into the same themes that Republicans believe will hand them a majority in the Senate next year, among them Israel but also immigration and the economy.

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As a challenger, McCormick is betting he can defeat Casey on the strength of his anti-Washington messaging as well. Casey, the son of political heavyweight and former Pennsylvania Gov. Bob Casey Sr., has served three terms in the Senate and before that as a statewide elected official.

Recently, Fetterman predicted that no “reputable” poll would find McCormick within 3 points of Casey. Casey’s campaign declined to comment on McCormick’s remarks.