A bitter feud between Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Michigan Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed is set to follow both men into the Senate, testing calls for unity among Democrats after the party’s midterm wins.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer urged his party to stay united on Wednesday, a day after Democrats won at least 54 Senate seats and took control of the chamber.
The two men have traded insults for months, clashing over Israel, the war with Iran and the direction of the Democratic Party.
The fight began over the summer. El-Sayed told progressive donors on a private call, “You put one ogre on a pike, and then everyone else gets the message.” He later confirmed in a primary debate that he meant Fetterman, who he said had “abandoned his elected values.”
Fetterman hit back by calling El-Sayed the “Pontiac Platner,” a reference to Graham Platner, who quit Maine’s Senate race after a string of controversies. He also said El-Sayed had “the worst case of little man syndrome I’ve ever seen.”
The attacks grew sharper in the final days of the campaign. “Abdul El-Sayed is a communist who hates America,” Fetterman said in a statement on Nov. 2.
Fetterman backs U.S. military aid to Israel and supported military action against Iran. El-Sayed campaigned against the Iran war and opposed U.S. aid to Israel, including funding for the Iron Dome missile defense system.
In Michigan, Fetterman also sided with Rep. Haley Stevens, who lost the Democratic primary to El-Sayed and later endorsed his Republican opponent, Mike Rogers. Fetterman said Stevens “simply held Abdul El-Sayed accountable for his views on Israel.”
El-Sayed has said he would back a primary challenge against Fetterman in 2028.
The size of the new Democratic majority means Fetterman, who has often broken with his party, no longer holds a deciding vote.
“We just Fetterman proofed the US Senate,” said Malcolm Kenyatta, a Pennsylvania state lawmaker who lost the 2022 Senate primary to Fetterman.
Neither senator has commented on how they will work together. El-Sayed is due to be sworn in with the new Congress on Jan. 3.