Fetterman on Mamdani: ‘He’s not even a Democrat’

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) said Thursday the politics of New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani aren’t those of the Democratic Party.

“I mean, so, he’s not even a Democrat, honestly,” Fetterman said in an interview with Fox News, regarding the progressive policies of Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist.

Mamdani, who currently serves as a New York Assembly member, has been pushing for a citywide rent freeze, city-run grocery stores and free buses, among other policies.

“Everything that I’ve read on him, I don’t really agree with virtually any of it, politically,” Fetterman told Fox’s Chad Pergram, echoing GOP lawmakers and establishment Democrats. 

Jonathan Kott, former communications director for former Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), said Mamdani is “way out of whack” during a Thursday appearance on Fox News’s “America Newsroom.”

“He says he’s a democratic socialist, and that’s how he should run, and that’s what Democrats around the country should point out,” Kott said.

“He is not who they represent.”

However, fellow New York leaders including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D), Attorney General Letitia James (D) and city Comptroller Brad Lander (D) have endorsed Mamdani.

“He did win the Democrat primary, so you may claim that he’s not a part of the Democrat Party, but he is the nominee. And there were plenty of elected Democrat officials who were campaigning for him during the primary,” Marc Short, ex-aide to former Vice President Mike Pence, said on “America’s Newsroom.”

“And so I do think it’s a reflection of really how far left the Democrat Party has gone today, and I think it is going to be a continuing challenge for them,” he added. 

Mamdani is slated to face off against embattled incumbent New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat who is running for reelection as an independent, in November.