I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that Democrats aren’t known for being tolerant of ideas and beliefs they don’t share. It’s basically part of their brand at this point. And the best example of this is how Democrats have completely turned on Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), despite his voting with Democrats roughly 95% of the time. They’re ready to oust him, and the GOP is even trying to recruit him.
On a recent broadcast of The Source with Kaitlan Collins, CNN senior political commentators David Urban and Van Jones got into a revealing back-and-forth about Senator John Fetterman — and what it means that Democrats are treating one of their own like a pariah. Urban, a former Trump campaign adviser, has actually had multiple personal conversations with Fetterman about switching parties or going Independent.
"I've had three discussions with Senator Fetterman, personally myself, where I have — I've asked him, I said, Look, can we get you on the team? Can we get you to switch over? And he has said, flat-out, No, he wasn't intended on switching, he would not switch."
I’ve been saying this for a long time now. Fetterman will never join the GOP. Nevertheless, Urban noted that he even floated the idea of Fetterman going Independent as a compromise — keeping one foot in the Democratic caucus while gaining some distance from a party that increasingly makes it clear it does not want him. Fetterman wasn't biting on that either.
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Urban drew a historical parallel to his days as Arlen Specter's chief of staff in Pennsylvania, recalling Jim Jeffords' party switch and noting how Specter was "hated by the Republicans, largely, and admired by Democrats." Fetterman, he argued, is basically the mirror image — beloved in Pennsylvania, despised by his own base. Urban made the case that if Fetterman were to run as an Independent, he’d probably win.
Then came Van Jones, who, to his credit, said the quiet part loud.
"I think he is a moderate Democrat, and that should not be illegal in this party."
Well, let’s be honest here. Fetterman isn’t a moderate. He mostly votes with the Democrats, and just because he breaks with them on a few select issues doesn’t make him a moderate. But the issue is that he only breaks with his party on a few select issues, and that’s what makes him a pariah.
"My God, you have to agree on a 100% of a 100% of the Berkeley, California agenda to be a Democrat? It doesn't make any sense,” Jones observed. "Like, what the heck? Like, it just shows you how nutty things have gotten, that somebody who wants to stick up for Israel and doesn't want an open border is somehow now has to be a Republican. That's completely insane."
CNN’s Van Jones just unloaded on “nutty” Democrats for refusing to let John Fetterman be a moderate in their own party.
— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) May 6, 2026
“That should not be illegal in this party. My god you have to agree on 100% of 100% of the Berkeley California agenda to be a Democrat? It doesn’t make any… pic.twitter.com/uksIZN5XK2
He called the situation flat-out insane. A guy who supports Israel and opposes open borders shouldn't automatically be handed a Republican registration card, Jones argued.
"I think that John Fetterman would not fit in the Republican Party any better than I would. He is 93% on the Democratic side. 93%.”
Yup. That shouldn’t make him a traitor. It makes him a reliable Democratic vote with a small handful of positions that apparently the base cannot stomach.
Urban cut right to the chase: "But your party doesn't want him, Van."
And Jones didn't exactly have a strong counter. Why? Because Urban's right. Van Jones, to his credit, knows this is a problem. He's saying so on national television. For all the Democrats’ grandstanding about diversity and tolerance, they sure don’t tolerate the tiniest bit of independent thought.
