Pennsylvania Democrat Sen. John Fetterman referred to progressive Michigan senatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed as “Pontiac Platner” in response to El-Sayed telling donors that he would support a primary challenge against Fetterman to “put one ogre on a pike.” “Call me Senator Shrek, whatever,” Fetterman said on CNBC’s Squawk Box in response to El-Sayed. “They’re behaving in truly bizarre ways, and that seems like what the DSA wants more and more,” Fetterman said. “This is not a big tent. Abolish prisons, abolish the border, abolish the presidency, abolish the Pentagon-I mean, these are crazy people.” “Some of the things that he’s done or said are unacceptable to me.” “He’s running to be the head of our emerging pro-Hamas wing here in the party!” “I’m not really sure what I’ve really done or voted for that has offended the little guy so much.” “This is a serious game that we’re engaging in. These same people, like Bernie Sanders and others, created the Plattner disaster,” he said. “Why aren’t more Democrats-Isn’t it incumbent on us, on the Republican and Democratic sides, to police our own ranks? That’s what I’m willing to do.”

JOE KERNEN: You need a Senate to have a Senate filibuster. There are some people in the party at this point, especially on the DSA side of things, who want to eliminate the Senate. They want to defund ICE. They want to close down prisons. When you see all this happening-I hear it’s a big tent. When we have mainstream Democrats on, they don’t really reject a lot of these things. They just kind of say, Oh, you know, the DSA will be the DSA. It’s a big tent. We like a lot of ideas. They don’t reject some of the most insane ideas, and I’m sure that’s what you’re getting at here. It’s insanity. SEN. JOHN FETTERMAN: I agree. That’s my point. I said that on my own socials. I’m like, This is not a big tent. Abolish prisons, abolish the border, abolish the presidency, abolish the Pentagon-I mean, these are crazy people. Now they are electing people across our country, in Colorado, even in my own state, and definitely in New York City right now. Some of those people, to me, are doing dangerous things. Could you imagine if I just announced that I’m going to arrest so-and-so in Pennsylvania, or, You’re not welcome here in my state? He’s a clown. Now he’s putting out a list of people who own homes in New York. Don’t put people on lists if they haven’t done anything wrong. They’re behaving in truly bizarre ways, and that seems like what the DSA wants more and more. Why aren’t more Democrats-Isn’t it incumbent on us, on the Republican and Democratic sides, to police our own ranks? That’s what I’m willing to do. I’ll remind people: The filibuster-it wasn’t that long ago that we wanted to kill it, and now we’re so grateful that it is still here. The people who had the courage to stand up and say that were punished, and now they’re not with us anymore politically. KERNEN: Senator, you can comment on that Michigan individual. I didn’t even understand what that meant. I think you’ve kind of embraced the whole Shrek analogy. You kind of laugh at that. But I think what he was saying was that they need to make an example out of you-that a Democrat who was elected as a Democrat shouldn’t be able to say the things you’re saying because you were supposedly elected with Democratic values that you need to stick to. But since when did some of these Democratic values include some of the things you just talked about? I don’t even understand the point that this gentleman was making. FETTERMAN: Yeah. I never worked as a male model. Call me Senator Shrek, whatever. But this guy is really the Pontiac Plattner, and now he’s really running to be the head of our emerging pro-Hamas wing here in the party. For me, politically, some of the things that he has said or done are unacceptable. I’m not really sure what I’ve done or voted for that has offended the little guy so much. Overall, right now, this is a serious game that we’re engaging in. These same people, like Bernie Sanders and others, created the Platner disaster. He was asked just this Sunday, and he has no regrets. Yeah, I have no regrets supporting an accused rapist. I have no regrets supporting a guy with a Nazi tattoo on his chest and a guy who roughed up his ex-girlfriends. There’s a level of arrogance, and they believe-they feel like they have some weird mandate. Stop this now. Call it out. That’s what I’m willing to do as a committed Democrat. I think that’s pretty reasonable, and I think it’s even more necessary if more people are willing to do that. KERNEN: That’s a key term there: committed Democrat. You’re not going to become a Republican, are you? I mean, I’ve talked about that. FETTERMAN: How could I be? I couldn’t be a Republican.

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