Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that New York City can embrace socialism if it wants to elect Democratic Socialist nominee Zohran Mamdani for mayor, but urged fellow Democrats to “stop hurting” the very people they “fight for.”
With the Big Apple’s mayoral election just days away, Mamdani is projected to outperform Independent candidate Andrew Cuomo and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, according to recent polls. CNN’s Jake Tapper asked Fetterman if electing Mamdani would be a mistake and whether he would consider voting for one of the other two candidates.
“No, that’s gonna be New York’s voice,” Fetterman said. “Socialism is not the future of my party. And if that’s gonna be their future, that’s really up to New York City to decide those things. You know, we all know how socialism works out. Ask anybody that’s lived under those kinds of systems all across the globe.”
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“But for me, as a Democrat, as a committed Democrat, I might disagree in some areas, much like shutting down our government or other areas now. But for me, as a committed Democrat, I am going to push back and announce, ‘People, that this is wrong,’” Fetterman added. “And now we are hurting the very people that we fight for. And now we’re getting nothing for them if we continue to keep our government shut down.”
According to a poll released Thursday conducted by Emerson College, PIX11, and The Hill, Mamdani holds a 25-point lead over Cuomo, 50% to 25%, while 21% support Sliwa and 4% remain undecided. Other polls, such as one from Marist University, show Mamdani with a slightly smaller lead, but he still commands 48% support, with Cuomo at 32%, Sliwa at 16%, and 3% undecided.
With Mamdani’s political momentum growing since he secured the Democratic mayoral nomination in June, established Democrat leaders have slowly begun coming forward to support him. In September, Democrat New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced her endorsement through an op-ed in The New York Times. By October, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries followed with his endorsement, months after previously dodging questions on the issue.
Despite his growing lead and endorsements from Democrats, Fetterman remains one of the few Democrats opposing Mamdani. In a July interview, Fetterman said he doesn’t “really agree with virtually” anything Mamdani stands for politically and claimed he’s “not even really a Democrat.”
If elected in November, Mamdani said he plans to implement policies such as raising the minimum wage to $30, launching government-run grocery stores, and taxing “richer and whiter” neighborhoods.
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