Sen. John Fetterman is escalating his criticism of the Democratic Party’s progressive wing, warning that the party has a “socialism problem” and accusing far-left candidates of damaging Democrats politically.
The Pennsylvania Democrat singled out Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, making clear that sharing a party affiliation would not prevent him from publicly condemning candidates he believes have moved too far to the left.
“These garbage kinds of people like El-Sayed in Michigan,” Fetterman told The Hill in an interview. “I don’t care if he’s a fellow Democrat.”
Fetterman also pointed to Democratic Senate nominee Troy Jackson in Maine, who has received the endorsement of the state’s Democratic Socialists of America chapter. He additionally cited Graham Platner, a far-left candidate who withdrew from the Maine Senate contest after a former girlfriend accused him of rape, an allegation Platner denied.
“Look at these other terrible communists and socialists,” Fetterman said. “Our party has a socialism problem.”
“I’ll be the one Democrat that calls it for what it is and not use the euphemism that it’s a big-tent situation,” he added.
Fetterman reserved particularly sharp criticism for El-Sayed’s decision to campaign alongside left-wing streamer Hasan Piker, who previously drew widespread condemnation for declaring that “America deserved 9/11.”
“Democrats like El-Sayed are proud to campaign with garbage like Hasan Piker,” Fetterman said.
The comments are the latest example of Fetterman’s growing public break with the progressive flank of his party, with Israel emerging as one of the most significant areas of disagreement.
Fetterman has established himself as one of the Senate Democratic caucus’s strongest supporters of Israel and has repeatedly pushed back against members of his own party over their positions toward the Jewish state. Last month, he went so far as to say that he would leave the Democratic Party if it officially adopted an anti-Israel posture.
“If our party ever becomes — and just makes it official — the anti-Israel party, that’s when I would leave because that’s been a moral clarity for me,” Fetterman said at The Hill Nation Summit.
Fetterman’s willingness to challenge Democrats from the right has also earned him unusually strong approval among Republican voters in his home state.
A recent New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer and Siena University poll found that 73% of registered Republicans in Pennsylvania hold a favorable view of Fetterman.
{Matzav.com}
