Fetterman Says Zohran Mamdani’s ‘Not Even A Democrat.’ Critics Say, ‘Look Who’s Talking’
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) caught some major side-eye after questioning New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s Democratic credentials.
During a Thursday interview on Fox News, the senator dismissed Mamdani’s popularity while suggesting his views were far outside the party’s mainstream.
“I’m not a voter in New York City, so I have no dog in that fight and everything that I’ve read on him, I don’t really agree with virtually any of it, politically,” Fetterman said. “So that’s just where I’m at as a Democrat. He’s not even a Democrat, honestly.”
Online, critics found the remark ironic coming from someone who’s broken ranks with his party on key issues like immigration and who’s been increasingly willing to cozy up to President Donald Trump.
“Pot meets kettle,” one X user wrote under a clip of the senator’s chat with Fox.
“Look who’s talking,” someone else said.
“Bro, neither are you,” replied another.
Once a staunch supporter of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) who openly called Trump a threat to democracy, Fetterman’s stances have been gradually slipping towards the center since he was elected in 2022.
After last fall’s presidential election, Fetterman said members of his party should stop “freaking out” and told ABC, “If you’re rooting against the president, you are rooting against the nation.”
Then in January, the Pennsylvania politician was the first Senate Democrat to meet with Trump before his inauguration.
Fetterman has also been one of the most outspoken Democratic defenders of Israel since the Oct. 7 attacks, even as Israel’s aggression towards the Palestinian people has become a major fault line within the party.
For his part, Mamdani has served in the New York State Assembly as a Democrat since 2021. He cinched the Democratic primary last month through popular policy proposals like raising taxes on billionaires, addressing the city’s housing crisis and combating the rising cost of living.
But critics have painted the lawmaker, who identifies as a democratic socialist, as an ultra-progressive outlier, citing proposals like establishing a rent freeze, eliminating bus fares and opening city-run grocery stores.
Despite a groundswell of progressive enthusiasm that helped Mamdani beat former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Fetterman dismissed his popularity as a “gift for Republicans.”
“Is it going to be useful for attack campaigns?” he asked. “Absolutely.”
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