Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer floated the possibility Tuesday that Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) could emerge as a Lindsey Graham-like figure within the Democratic Party, pointing to the Pennsylvania senator’s willingness to break with fellow Democrats over Israel as he reflected on Graham’s political legacy ahead of the late senator’s funeral.
Speaking during Fox’s America’s Newsroom, Hemmer compared Graham’s political evolution over the past decade with Fetterman’s increasingly outspoken disagreements with members of his own party, suggesting both lawmakers demonstrated a willingness to take independent positions despite their broader partisan loyalties.
Hemmer began by recalling Graham’s once-contentious relationship with President Donald Trump during the 2016 Republican presidential campaign.
“Eleven years ago, Lindsey Graham didn’t have much time for Donald Trump,” Hemmer said, referring to a 2015 CNN interview in which Graham famously remarked, “You know how to make America great again? Tell Donald Trump to go to hell.”
Hemmer contrasted those remarks with Graham’s relationship with Trump in more recent years, noting how dramatically it had changed.
He pointed to Graham’s victory in his South Carolina Republican primary, where the senator defeated multiple challengers with roughly 60% of the vote. Following that victory, Graham praised Trump, saying, “Mr. President, you’re not far behind God.”
For Hemmer, the contrast illustrated the broad political journey Graham had taken while maintaining what he described as deeply held convictions.
“That was the range Lindsey Graham had,” Hemmer said. “I was thinking in this conversation about Washington moving forward and finding common ground, and obviously Lindsey Graham can find it, but he had deep convictions.”
Hemmer then turned his attention to Fetterman, whom he noticed among those attending the memorial service.
“I was looking at John Fetterman in that audience there as well,” Hemmer said.
While noting that Fetterman has voted with Democrats 93% of the time, Hemmer argued that one issue clearly separates the Pennsylvania senator from many members of his party.
“Israel is his red line,” Hemmer said.
According to Hemmer, as more Democrats have opposed the Israeli government and voted against aid to Israel, Fetterman has continued to support Israel and has made clear that the issue is non-negotiable for him.
Hemmer suggested that Fetterman’s position could become even more significant depending on the outcome of the upcoming midterm elections.
“If you looked at the current setup of the Senate for this midterm race, you could be looking at a 50/50 finish,” Hemmer observed.
In that scenario, Hemmer argued, Fetterman could wield extraordinary influence if he were ever to leave the Democratic Party and become an independent.
“If John Fetterman were to leave the Democratic Party and become an Independent, he would be the most powerful politician in America because of his singular vote,” Hemmer said. “It hasn’t been that way in 25 years.”
Hemmer’s comments came just weeks after Fetterman publicly addressed speculation about his future within the Democratic Party.
Earlier this month, the Pennsylvania senator warned that he would leave the party if it formally embraced what he described as an anti-Israel position.
“If our party ever becomes—and just makes it official—the anti-Israel party, that’s when I would leave because that’s been a moral clarity for me,” Fetterman said.
Hemmer’s remarks framed Fetterman as a senator whose willingness to diverge from his party on a defining issue mirrors, in some respects, the political independence that characterized Graham’s career, while suggesting that a closely divided Senate could make any future decision by Fetterman especially consequential.
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