‘You focus on the wrong things’: Chris Cuomo says Dems turning on Fetterman shows why party has fallen

NewsNation host Chris Cuomo said Thursday that Democrats not supporting Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman after an article raising concerns about his mental health exemplifies why the party is struggling politically.

New York Magazine’s May 2 piece — based on interviews with Fetterman and numerous people in his orbit — reports that the senator displayed distressing behavior during an extended mental health crisis, including conspiratorial thinking, driving recklessly and telling painfully obvious lies. Cuomo, on “The Chris Cuomo Project,” said Democrats are turning against Fetterman not because of his mental health issues, but because he doesn’t pass their “purity tests.”

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“Democrats have to stop going after their own, and they have to start seeing what is best for the country that they can provide. And that is being in the business of better. That is being in the business of compromise,” Cuomo said. “That is being in the business of getting things done that matter for the most, instead of fighting about what matters to the least, okay? You have been rejected by the American people because you were seen as less in step with normal than [President] Donald John Trump. Remember that.”

Fetterman has differentiated himself from other Democrats, including by becoming the first sitting Democratic Senator known to have visited Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence following the November election. He has also clashed with his party on issues related to Israel since its war with Hamas began on Oct. 7, 2023.

The senator also said on Fox News in January that deporting illegal immigrants with criminal records shouldn’t be a “controversial” issue for lawmakers. He co-sponsored the Laken Riley Act, which mandates that federal immigration officials detain illegal immigrants with theft-related crimes.

“Fetterman is a test case — a case study — in why the Democrats fell to the position that they’re in. You focus on the wrong things,” Cuomo added. “You focus on purity tests. And you eat your own. And you may think it makes you better, but when it comes to winning races, it has made you worse. Okay, you should have never lost to Donald Trump. You should have never lost the American flag as a party symbol. You should have never lost the mandate of the majority.”

“You should have never stopped fighting for the working man and woman and the majority of this country. You should have never gotten in the battle of fringe interests and culture wars — never,” he continued. “But you did. And what’s happening with Senator John Fetterman is the new front in that war, and it is a losing battle for Democrats.”

Democrats hit record-low popularity ratings of 27% and 29% in March polling by NBC News and CNN/SSRS. Among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, 45% would prefer the Democratic Party become “more moderate,” according to Gallup polling released in February.

Barely any Democrats have stepped in to defend Fetterman after New York Magazine’s piece, Politico reported. Certain major Pennsylvania Democrats also told the outlet that they were distant from the senator and did not express support for him.

“I have had no contact or conversation with him, so I have no way of weighing in on that,” Democratic Pennsylvania Rep. Chrissy Houlahan told Politico regarding New York Magazine’s piece.

Democratic Pennsylvania Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon told Politico she had not talked to Fetterman “recently” and was unaware of the “underlying facts” of the senator’s circumstances. She said the New York Magazine’s piece “obviously raises questions.”

Moreover, Democratic Pennsylvania Rep. Summer Lee similarly told the outlet she had not spoken with Fetterman lately. She did not offer her own perspective on New York Magazine’s piece, instead expressing that Pennsylvanians’ views on it are more important.

“I hope they read it,” she told the outlet.

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