Fetterman says anti-Israel litmus test, communist ideas, are changing Democratic Party

He also said Piker goes beyond democratic socialism by praising authoritarian communist leaders and thinkers, including Mao Zedong.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Democratic Sen. John Fetterman warned Tuesday that increasingly radical and anti-Israel voices are gaining influence within the Democratic Party, arguing that candidates and activists embracing communist figures and making Israel a political litmus test are pulling the party away from its core values.

Speaking to Fox News Digital on the sidelines of the Israel on Campus Coalition conference, the Pennsylvania Democrat said recent primary elections have heightened his concerns about the party’s direction.

“But overall, if you identify with a communist who praises Mao and Cuba and for these places, that should be foreign to any Democrat. Without a doubt, that’s having an impact,” Fetterman said.

Fetterman criticized political commentator Hasan Piker, saying he has backed New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed.

He also said Piker goes beyond democratic socialism by praising authoritarian communist leaders and thinkers, including Mao Zedong.

The senator said Tuesday’s primaries represented another test of whether Democrats would continue embracing candidates aligned with the party’s progressive wing.

“I see the midterms right now that the more radical, the more anti-Israel, and the people have turned Israel as to the ultimate litmus … When you have Gov. Newsom describing Israel as an apartheid state. He knows better, that that’s not true,” Fetterman said.

He added that it should be “pretty obvious” the Democratic Party should not “pander to the fringe.”

“Those are core values. … Like I said, you just can’t pander to those kinds of people,” he said.

President Donald Trump issued a similar warning earlier this summer after socialist candidates won Democratic primaries in New York, arguing that the party had moved beyond democratic socialism.

“These are not social Democrats,” Trump said in June. “These are hardcore, godless communists. They’re godless communists. All communists are godless. They don’t believe in God. This is the most serious threat to our country since its existence. In my opinion, 250 years ago. This is a major threat to our country.”