Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) mocked New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani as a “clown” and told him to “sit down” after the socialist Democrat threatened to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visits New York. Fetterman dismissed the threat during an appearance on Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures,” arguing that Mamdani has no authority to carry it out. He also told the mayor to turn his attention back to the problems facing his own city.
Host Maria Bartiromo raised the issue while questioning Fetterman about the Democratic Party’s increasingly hostile posture toward Israel. She pointed to far-left candidates winning elections and socialists moving into leadership positions before asking about Mamdani’s threat involving Netanyahu. Mamdani has said he would seek to arrest the Israeli leader if Netanyahu travels to New York for the United Nations General Assembly in September.
“What—it’s such a tough guy to say that kind of thing,” Fetterman replied. “He has no way to do that.” The Pennsylvania Democrat then rejected the premise behind Mamdani’s threat, noting that the United States does not recognize the International Criminal Court warrant that the mayor has cited.
As Breitbart reported, the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for Netanyahu over allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Fetterman described the ICC as a “corrupt court” and said Mamdani was making an empty threat. “Of course, obviously, America’s not even part of that corrupt court, and so he’s just a clown to even say that,” he said.
Fetterman then delivered a blunt instruction to the New York mayor. “So he won’t try that, and I’ll just—sit down and focus on other—the problems that they have in New York,” he said. “That’s really not your purview. You and I know that. Sit down.” Bartiromo then shifted the conversation to Democrats working to block portions of President Donald Trump’s agenda.
The exchange came during a broader discussion about military funding, Israel, Iran, and the growing divide inside the Democratic Party. Fetterman said the United States remains “the arsenal to the free world” and must replenish critical munitions needed by American allies. He added that he would remain proud to stand with the military and would not reduce those questions to partisan politics.
Watch Fetterman unload on Mamdani here:
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Bartiromo later asked Fetterman about his previous statement that the Democratic Party had officially become the “anti-Israel party.” Fetterman said he had no immediate plan to leave the party, but warned that an explicitly anti-Israel platform could force him to reconsider. “If the Democratic Party puts anti-Israel kinds of terms in that platform, that would force me to kind of reevaluate: Should I remain as a Democrat?” he said.
Fetterman then pointed to the candidates winning Democratic primaries in Pennsylvania, New York, Colorado, and potentially Michigan. He also criticized Jewish organizations that have held events with far-left commentator Hasan Piker, asking how Democrats could embrace someone associated with such extreme hostility toward Israel. Fetterman said a party that continued moving in that direction might no longer have room for what he called a “reasonable, common sense kind of Democrat.”
The senator closed that portion of the interview by recalling that support for Israel once held a central place in the Democratic Party. “Maybe my party doesn’t want like a reasonable, common sense kind of Democrat that reminds people that standing with Israel—that at least used to be part of our core values,” Fetterman said, adding that it was “one of the reasons why I’ve been proud to be a Democrat.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video.