Rebel Democrat John Fetterman has slammed a progressive firebrand who called him ugly, accusing the newly elected Michigan Senate candidate of being arrogant and having “little man syndrome.”
Moments after Abdul El-Sayed defeated establishment candidate Haley Stevens in the most expensive primary race in Democratic history, Fetterman warned he was pushing the Democrats too far to the left and doubled down on his threat to leave the party over antisemitism.
Asked on Wednesday if he could try to unify with El-Sayed—who has come under fire over his anti-Israel views—Fetterman told CNN: “Oh yeah, the tough guy. He called me ugly—that I should be on a pike—and I’m like: ‘Chief. I own mirrors. I know I’m an ugly guy.’
“He has, like, a really ‘little man syndrome’ kind of energy, and he was really arrogant in that race,” Fetterman added.
“And now he just found out that, you know, less than a majority of Democrats want him, and he has a serious responsibility between now and November to hold that seat.”
Fetterman is about 6 feet and 8 inches tall, and known for his towering frame and unorthodox appearance, such as his tendency to shun suits in favor of hoodies and shorts.
El-Sayed, an epidemiologist, Rhodes Scholar and former public health official, is about 5 feet and 9 inches tall when he is wearing shoes, as he once humorously confirmed himself.
“While my aura may suggest I am 6’7, I am in fact only 5’9…in shoes,” he wrote on X earlier this year.
“I ask that the press and the public give my family and me space in this trying time.”
But the Senate race for Michigan was an otherwise serious one, exposing the bitter divisions between the nascent left wing of the Democratic Party and the more moderate forces of the party establishment.
More than $60 million of outside spending had poured into the contest, most of which went towards trying to ensure Stevens, a pro-Israel Democrat backed by stalwarts such as Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, defeated 41-year-old El Sayed.
El-Sayed, who could soon be the first Muslim elected to the Senate, is a Bernie Sanders-endorsed candidate who campaigned on Medicare for All, cracking down on corporate influence, and ending military aid to Israel.
But his past remarks on Israel’s military actions in Gaza—which he has characterized as a “genocide”—and his reluctance to affirm Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state have drawn intense accusations of antisemitism from political opponents and Jewish advocacy groups.
Fetterman also lashed out on Wednesday, saying that El-Sayed’s comments during the primary race will “come back to haunt him” against Trump-endorsed candidate Mike Rogers in the midterm election, with Republicans expected to pour big money into winning the seat.
So too is AIPAC, which pumped $32 million into the primary race and vowed on Wednesday to do whatever it could to stop him getting elected to the Senate.
“Is he still going to campaign with a guy who says he loves Hamas?” Fetterman asked, in reference to El-Sayed’s embrace of left-wing influencer Hasan Piker. “We’ll see.”
Fetterman’s tendency to criticize his party and occasionally vote with Republicans has made him a darling of MAGA world.
Last month, he suggested he would leave the Democratic Party if it officially adopts an anti-Israel platform or cuts off aid to Israel.
Asked today if this remained a “red line,” Fetterman told CNN: “I think we have, our nation, a very special responsibility to protect Israel.”
El-Sayed, meanwhile, sought to make amends for his past comments after he was declared the projected winner.
“To all of my sisters and brothers of the Jewish faith, or any faith at all, or no faith at all, I want you to know that my commitment to your safety—to Jewish safety—is the same commitment that I have to the safety of my own daughters.”
The Michigan Democratic primary was widely seen as a proxy war for the future of the Democratic Party. It also marks the biggest win for the political left in this midterm cycle, but whether it translates to a victory in the general election in November has yet to be seen.
“Great news for the Republican Party,” Trump wrote on Wednesday after the race was called.
“El-Sayed, a Communist loser who hates Jews and Israel, is the projected winner in his race with the Socialist. As usual, the Polls were way off on this one. She was not expected to do nearly as well as she did. Now, the Dumocrats crazy policies will only get worse!”
