Sen. John Fetterman is urging Bernie Sanders to “humble himself” after the Vermont senator endorsed Graham Platner, who has faced serious allegations, and backed Michigan candidate Abdul El-Sayed, whom Fetterman has accused of being “pro-Hamas.”
The Pennsylvania Democrat criticized Sanders during a Fox News appearance on Saturday, arguing that the 84-year-old progressive icon is hurting Democrats’ prospects with a string of divisive endorsements.
“Humble yourself, Bernie,” Fetterman said during an interview with Saturday in America co-host Kayleigh McEnany.
“You just pushed an accused rapist up in Maine and now you’re pushing essentially a pro-Hamas candidate that’s been anti-American and deeply anti-Israel,” Fetterman added.
Fetterman’s criticism focused in part on El-Sayed’s comments about Israel, after the Democratic candidate drew backlash earlier this year for telling CNN that Israel’s government was as “evil” as Hamas.
El-Sayed, who has been endorsed by Sanders, is expected to face Democratic candidate Haley Stevens in Michigan’s primary next month, in what has become one of the most closely watched Democratic races of the 2026 election cycle.
Speaking to CNN in April, El-Sayed said: “Yes, killing tens of thousands of people makes you pretty damn evil. It’s not how evil is this one versus that one – Hamas: Evil, Israeli government: Evil. We can say both.”
Fetterman also cited a Pew Research poll released Monday that found 44 percent of American Muslims hold a favorable view of Hamas, saying he “can’t believe” El-Sayed has not responded to the finding.
Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman demanded Bernie Sanders ‘humble himself’ over his endorsement choices during a Fox News appearance Saturday
Sanders endorsed Michigan candidate Abdul El-Sayed, who Fetterman accused of being ‘pro-Hamas’
Sanders previously endorsed Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner, who dropped out of the race last week following a sexual assault allegation which he denies
Join the discussion
Is Bernie Sanders hurting the Democratic Party with his controversial endorsements?
‘That’s not someone I could ever support,’ he said. ‘These are the kind of candidates that Bernie keeps pushing. Look at the kinds of train wrecks that have been elected in New York too.’
Sanders notably backed fellow socialist and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani during his successful 2025 campaign.
Meanwhile, another of his high-profile picks, Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner, dropped out of the race last week after a sexual assault allegation piled onto a series of earlier controversies.
The Democrat posted an 11-minute video to social media in which he again denied the allegations but said the ‘immense amount of weight’ he was under had become too much, forcing him to end his campaign.
Last month, Sanders defended Platner on Capitol Hill after reports surfaced that he had exchanged sexually explicit text messages with other women early in his marriage.
‘We got a housing crisis. People can’t afford healthcare, they can’t afford groceries, they can’t afford to fill up their gas tanks,’ he said, according to NBC News.
‘And I think it’s important for us to focus on the issues facing working families a little bit more than Graham Platner’s marriage.’
In his Saturday attack, Fetterman said Sanders should stop endorsing candidates for the time being and ‘recalibrate things.’
Fetterman said Sanders should stop endorsing candidates for the time being and ‘recalibrate things’
Sanders defended Platner on Capitol Hill after reports surfaced that he had exchanged sexually explicit text messages with other women early in his marriage. He denied wrongdoing but dropped out of the race
Fetterman’s latest criticism is part of a broader campaign against Sanders. Just last week, he accused the senator of ‘pushing these Communists,’ arguing the endorsements would damage the Democratic Party nationally.
On Friday, Sanders joined El-Sayed at a campaign rally in Detroit, where he took aim at the candidate’s Democratic rival, Haley Stevens, accusing her of prioritizing the ‘billionaire class,’ according to Fox News.
‘In all due respect to Haley Stevens, everybody knows that this is not an election between her and Abdul. This is an election between Abdul and the billionaire class. That is what this election is about,’ Sanders stated.
‘The billionaire class, which has already – and there are two weeks left to go in the election – has already spent $50 million against him,’ he added.
‘I want you to ask yourself a simple question: Why are the richest people in the country spending tens and tens of millions of dollars to defeat Abdul El-Sayed?’
Fetterman’s feud with El-Sayed largely centers on the Middle East, with the Pennsylvania senator accusing fellow Democrats of pandering to the party’s most vocal anti-Israel voters.
He has repeatedly insisted he is not abandoning the Democratic Party. But earlier this week, he warned he would be forced to leave if Democrats turned their backs on Israel.
‘If our party ever becomes – and just makes it official – the anti-Israel party, that’s when I would leave because that’s been a moral clarity for me,’ Fetterman shared at The Hills Nation Summit on Wednesday.
Speaking about El-Sayed, Fetterman said: ‘You just pushed an accused rapist up in Maine and now you’re pushing essentially a pro-Hamas candidate that’s been anti-American and deeply anti-Israel’
Sanders took aim at the candidate’s Democratic rival, Haley Stevens, accusing her of prioritizing the ‘billionaire class’
Sanders notably backed fellow socialist and New York City Mayor during his successful 2025 campaign
He also noted that his ‘long-term concern has been with the Democratic Party, as I am a member of that, is that our party is going to back away and turn their back to Israel.’
During an interview with CNN Chief Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju earlier this year, El-Sayed was asked whether he believed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was a ‘war criminal.’
‘Absolutely,’ El-Sayed responded with no hesitation. ‘When you conduct a genocide, you’re a war criminal,’ he added.
He also criticized Stevens over her support from AIPAC, telling Raju it was ‘disastrous’ before adding: ‘You should be more interested in what’s happening in Michigan than you are interested in what’s happening in Tel Aviv.’
On Wednesday, 103 of 211 Democrats in the US House of Representatives voted against providing aid to Israel, while 10 more of their colleagues voted ‘present’ on the measure.
The Democratic Party’s split on the issue has never been more pronounced. Fetterman argued that it signaled a changing political landscape.
Meanwhile, the latest allegations against Platner were the most damaging in a string of controversies that sent his campaign into a tailspin.
He watched endorsements disappear one by one, while national Democratic groups vowed not to pour money into the race if he stayed on as the nominee.
