Sen. John Fetterman (D-Penn.) is known for wearing sweatshirts and shorts 24/7, including when he’s on Capitol Hill and in the Senate chamber. But today, he showed up in a suit to attend Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech in Congress.
Many were shocked by Fetterman’s attire and saw it as an extension of his staunch support for Israel and the U.S.’s financial and military backing of the country in its war against Hamas.
The senator initially ran for Congress as a progressive and the moderate turn he’s taken recently upset former supporters and allies. In the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023 attack against Israel by Hamas, he’s become loudly outspoken in favor of the war in Gaza.
Jeremy Art, who does social media for C-SPAN, tweeted a photo of Fetterman applauding Netanyahu in a suit.
“Sen. Fetterman in a suit and tie,” Art tweeted today.
In the photo, Fetterman stands and applauds next to fellow moderate Sen. Joe Machin (D-W.V.) and former Democrat Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) Other Democratic Senators, like Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) are pictured seated, and some—like Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)—skipped the speech altogether.
A video posted by journalist Riley Beggin also shows Fetterman walking with other members of Congress in his suit.
Many tweeted that they were angered by Fetterman wearing a suit for Netanyahu’s address but not any other time.
“I think it’s interesting (derogatory) that Fetterman insists on wearing his shorts and hoodie 99% of the time no matter how disrespectful it is to his hosts or his wife,” one X user tweeted. “Yet he decides to put on a suit and tie for Bibi.”
“The fact that Fetterman wears a suit for Netanyahu but makes a huge point of refusing to wear a suit to literally everything else is sufficiently weird as to be darkly sinister,” another person said.
“John Fetterman finally finds a suit in time to give Benjamin Netanyahu a standing ovation,” an X user tweeted.
Others bashed Fetterman for his support for Netanyahu.
“Fetterman wearing a suit and a standing ovation for someone wanted by the ICC for war crimes is something I’m really not proud of my country doing,” an X user said.
In May, an International Criminal Court prosecutor issued a warrant for Netanyahu’s arrest saying in a statement that he is “willfully causing great suffering” and starvation, among other war crimes.
“Look at this caucus of losers clapping like seals for Netanyahu!” another X user tweeted. “Fetterman saddling up (in a suit) to his true allies, Sinema and Manchin.”
After Fetterman wore shorts on the Senate floor, the Senate unanimously passed a bill to enforce a formal dress code in the chamber and require senators to wear “business attire.”
Last month, Fetterman showed up in a suit and tie over a sweatshirt.
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