John Fetterman’s First 2028 Challenger Has Campaign Account Suspended - Newsweek
Ahmed Moor, a Palestinian American who announced his run to oust Senator John Fetterman in 2028, has had his campaign account on X suspended.
"FRIENDS! It's official! We're a threat. They've suspended the campaign account," Moor wrote on his personal X account on Wednesday.
The post included a screenshot showing Moor's campaign account, with the handle @moorforpa, was suspended with a notice saying X "suspends accounts that violate our rules." The account had garnered more than 33,000 followers by the time it was suspended.
It was not immediately clear why X suspended Moor’s campaign account. His campaign accounts on other social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok, remain active.
Newsweek has contacted X and Moor’s campaign for comment via emails sent outside regular business hours and is awaiting responses.
X, formerly known as Twitter, is owned by billionaire Elon Musk. He spent half-a-billion dollars to help Republicans retain control of Congress in the midterm elections, only for Democrats to take control of both the House and Senate.
Moor, 42, became the first Democrat to formally launch a primary challenge against Fetterman on Monday.
A Palestinian American writer and businessman who was born in Gaza and now lives in Philadelphia, Moor is a democratic socialist who has never held political office besides a recent role on the Philadelphia Democratic City Committee.
"I’m running to end the war in Iran and to promote the dignity agenda: free healthcare, free childcare, and affordable housing," he wrote on X on Monday. "I’m calling for accountability for genocide, for ICE and for corruption. And finally, for the protection of our civil liberties in America."
His announcement came after last week’s midterm elections showed growing frustration with the United States’ relationship with Israel, fueled by the unpopular U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. President Donald Trump has since suggested cutting off aid to Israel and Vice President JD Vance has partly blamed his party’s defeat on U.S.-Israel relations.
Moor supports withdrawing aid from Israel.
"I grew up in Philadelphia, but was born in Gaza, Palestine," his campaign website says.
"A few years ago my birthplace was turned to rubble in a genocide funded by our tax dollars, with the support of politicians on both sides of the aisle who can’t find money for healthcare, transit, or removing asbestos from our schools."
Independent experts commissioned by the U.N. said in a recent report that Israel has continued to carry out a genocide against the Palestinian people even after a ceasefire agreement in Gaza. Israel has repeatedly denied accusations of genocide.
Fetterman, a staunch supporter of Israel, has not officially said whether he will seek a second term. But he told reporters this week that he welcomes a challenger.
Fetterman's approval ratings have plummeted. He has grown increasingly isolated from the Democratic Party for frequently splitting with Democrats on issues ranging from immigration to Israel to vote with Republicans in a closely divided Senate.
After the midterms, Democrats have a significant majority in the Senate, meaning Trump has now lost the unique leverage he had in Washington.
Fetterman also faced criticism from Democrats after The Wall Street Journal reported in September that he had little interest in doing the work of a senator, including routinely ducking meetings with constituents.
Ahead of the midterms, Trump openly urged Fetterman to switch parties and become a Republican.
Fetterman has said he does not intend to become a Republican, but has previously said he would leave the Democratic Party if it adopted an anti-Israel policy.
"That’s my red line," Fetterman told CNN last year. "If the Democratic Party becomes official anti-Israel, then that’s when I would force me out."
Several Democrats are weighing whether to challenge Fetterman in 2028.
Representative Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania told Politico on Tuesday that she is "considering" a potential Senate run.
"I’m going to be considering it," Dean said. "I have been concerned about, really, two things, which is his family and his health…and am very disappointed in his activity as a senator and in his votes."
Dean and Fetterman both ran to become Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor in 2018. He won the race, and she was elected to the House later that year.
Representative Chris Deluzio of Pennsylvania also told Politico he is giving "serious thought" to a possible Senate run.
Meanwhile, Pennsylvania’s Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro has said he thinks Fetterman will face "a robust primary challenge" if he decides to run for a second term.
"There’s no question that people are lining up to run, and he has to decide if he’s going to run," Shapiro said on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday.
Shapiro said he has "no idea" what Fetterman’s plans are, but that the midterm elections showed that Pennsylvanians want "real accountability" for Trump.
"The good people of Pennsylvania have just voted, and they don’t want people enabling Donald Trump anymore. They want real accountability for Trump," Shapiro said.
"They want people who actually show up in their communities every day and do the hard work to make their lives better. And I think John’s got a lot of work to do to earn the trust of the people of Pennsylvania, to reearn the trust of the people of Pennsylvania. He’s got to show up. He should speak to the people of Pennsylvania about what his plans are."
