Progressives have long seen John Fetterman as one of their own: He endorsed Bernie Sanders for president, hung marijuana and LGBTQ flags outside his office as Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor, and championed clemency for people serving life sentences when he ran the state’s Board of Pardons.

But as the freshman Democratic senator wraps up his first year in Washington, his breaks with progressive allies are bursting into clearer view, especially in his staunch support for Israel’s war against Hamas and his openness to joining Republicans in supporting an immigration crackdown.

“I’m not a progressive,” Mr. Fetterman told NBC News in an interview that published Friday. “I just think I’m a Democrat that is very committed to choice and other things. But with Israel, I’m going to be on the right side of that. And immigration is something near and dear to me, and I think we do have to effectively address it as well.”

His assertion that he’s “not a progressive” was his most explicit rhetorical break from a wing of the Democratic Party that has long supported him. But it was only the most recent.