Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., on Wednesday called several rising Democratic stars outright “socialists” or “communists,” pandering to the party’s fringe base.
“I think there’s no doubt that extremism is driving this trend,” Fetterman told Reason. “Look at the Senate and House primaries and look at the people who have been elected.
“Like the mayor of Seattle. She’s an absolute socialist, if not more, how people [go] ‘Hey, I gotta go’ and she just said ‘bye’ and then described something like that. “
Socialist mayor’s blunt words to fleeing millionaires spark outrage: ‘We are doomed’
Sen. John Fetterman called politicians like Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson “absolutely socialist.”
(Reuters)
Fetterman was referring to Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson, who last month laughed off the idea of millionaires leaving the state because of her support for progressive taxes.
“I think it’s a huge exaggeration to say that millionaires are going to leave our state,” Wilson told the Seattle University audience. “What if — the people who are leaving, it’s like, bye.”
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Fetterman then took aim at New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who recently proposed a “pop-up” tax on luxury second homes owned by wealthy city residents.
New York City Mayor Mamdani calls threat of wealthy people leaving New York over tax issues ‘imaginary’
U.S. Senator John Fetterman attends the sixth episode of “The Senate Project” hosted by Fox News anchor Shannon Bream at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute of the U.S. Senate on June 2, 2025 in Boston.
“New York, of course. It’s its own situation. I think [Florida Gov. Ron] DeSantis has a great line, you know, “Mamdani is my favorite real estate agent now.” It’s driving people away. People can move, they can vote with their feet,” Fetterman said.
“That explains why Florida continues to prosper. But in many states, like New York and other blue states, we understand that $2 trillion is moving out of those states as well.”
He also warned that Democrats had gone to such extremes that they had begun supporting communism, citing Maine U.S. Senate candidate Graham Plattner as an example.
“I mean, in Maine, for example, Graham Plattner, he was an avowed communist. He called himself a communist. Antifa, this is not a slur on my part. This is not a Republican attack. This is his own words, how he describes it,” Fetterman said.
John Fetterman blasts Democrats for campaigning on ‘F-Trump’ themes instead of delivering constructive message
John Fetterman describes himself as a “pro-capitalist Democrat” in contrast to the extremism within his party.
Fox Digital News reached out to Wilson and Mamdani’s offices and Plattner’s campaign for comment.
Fetterman, a self-described “pro-capitalist Democrat,” accuses extremists in his party of squeezing out billionaires and millionaires while the party accepts billionaires and millionaires to fund progressive causes.
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“I don’t think these people are the problem right now. If you become a billionaire … they like the billionaires who fund these types of causes and the organizations that actually drive a lot of the protests. And that’s where the energy is,” Fetterman said.
Original source of the article: Fetterman calls Seattle mayor ‘absolute socialist’, Graham Plattner ‘open communist’
