Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) on Tuesday was largely stumped when asked why voters under 30 largely oppose President Joe Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas War, suggesting it might have something to do with what they see on TikTok.
Fetterman, whose recent claim not be “a progressive” spurred critics on the left to provide evidence to the contrary, has emphatically supported Israel, even as the Palestinian death toll due to Israeli bombings suprasses 20,000, according to Gaza health authorities.
Biden, meanwhile, said last week that Israel was starting to lose the support of its allies due to its “indiscriminate bombing” of Gaza, adding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “has to change and…this government in Israel is making it very difficult for him to move.”
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This comes as nearly 75 percent of young voters disapprove of the president’s response to the crisis, a New York Times/Sienna College poll found, with approximately the same percentage saying Israel isn’t doing enough to prevent civilian casualties. Notably, respondents who say they use TikTok regularly were especially critical.
Americans as a whole, meanwhile, are nearly split as to whether Israel should continue its offensive or stop, with those preferring the latter holding a slight edge.
On CNN’s The Lead, Fetterman was asked about those findings.
“I understand that there is kind of a division between the younger voters between Israel and Gaza, and I really believe the president is very much on the right side of that,” he said. “Sometimes you may alienate some voters, but it’s really most important to be on the right side on that. That is where I am at.”
Anchor Jake Tapper followed up a bit later, asking why he believes there is a pronounced age gap on this issue, especially among Democrats.
“I really don’t know. I do know that a lot of people are getting their perspective from TikTok, and I think if you are kind of getting your perspective on the world on TikTok, it’s going to tend to be kind of warped or not reflective of the history and actually the way things absolutely are.”
“What is very clear is that Hamas started this and they actually broke the cease-fire and they attacked and murdered babies, children, women—attacked a music concert and everything. It’s outrageous,” he said. “And, from now on, it’s been very clear that Israel would very much want there to be peace, but they have made it very clear that after October 7, that that’s just not possible so long as Hamas is allowed to exist.”
