Fetterman brands new socialist favorite 'Pontiac Platner' after 'ogre' dig

Senator John Fetterman, D-Pa., branded Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdulrahman El-Sayed "Pontiac Platner" after the left-wing upstart called for the "ogre" to be put on a "pike" at a campaign event in comments widely understood to reference the Pennsylvania lawmaker.

A recording from a Zoom call with donors obtained by Politico appeared to depict El-Sayed railing against those who have criticized his far-left policy platform, while singling out Fetterman and allegedly envisioning his head on a stake.

Fetterman later responded to CNBC’s Joe Kernen by blessing El-Sayed with a new nickname.

"I never worked out in male modeling. You know, you could call me ‘Senator Shrek’ — whatever — but this guy is really the Pontiac Platner, and now he’s really running to be, be the head of our emerging pro-Hamas wing here in the party," Fetterman said of El-Sayed.

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U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., speaks to reporters outside the Senate chamber during votes Nov. 10, 2025, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Pontiac is a well-known name in Michigan, stemming from the 18th century Odawa chief to his namesake city and the now-defunct General Motors brand that was discontinued following the 2008 financial crisis.

El-Sayed has routinely criticized the Israeli government, and some of his policy positions overlap with those of Maine oyster farmer Graham Platner, who dropped his Senate bid after a series of allegations of sexual misconduct involving women.

"Politically, some of the things that he said or done are unacceptable to me. I'm not really sure what I've really done or voted for that that has offended the little guy so much," Fetterman added.

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Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., and Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images; Sarah Rice/Getty Images)

He added that Democrats are engaging in a "serious game" by allowing people in the "Bernie Sanders" wing of the party who "created the Platner disaster" some policy oxygen.

During El-Sayed’s Zoom call, the millennial left-winger spoke out specifically against Fetterman.

"In the interim need to be organizing downward and outward. So, a big pickup for us could be that John Fetterman seat [in Pennsylvania]. I’m like a lot of folks — they’re going to ‘F’ around and give me carte blanche to go take them out," El-Sayed said.

"Y’all came at me, so now I get to come at you and primary people like John Fetterman, and I have no problem with that. I'm looking forward to it."

El-Sayed dismissed the longstanding custom against primarying sitting senators, a norm recently broken in the GOP when Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton defeated incumbent Republican Sen. John Cornyn in their primary.

"Then, what happens is, ideally, you put one ogre on a pike, and then everyone else gets the message and all of a sudden starts to sound a lot different," El-Sayed said.

The 6-foot-9 Fetterman took the insult in stride in his interview with Kernen, alluding to El-Sayed’s barb being his latest comparison to Mike Myers’ beloved green ogre that has cropped up in memes and elsewhere over the years.

"It's incumbent on us, Republican and Democrat [alike], to police your own ranks. So, that's what I'm willing to do," Fetterman said, adding he is warning fellow lawmakers against eliminating the filibuster in one example.

El-Sayed and Platner also share several policy positions, including support for a single-payer, government-run Medicare-for-all system, anti-corporate housing policies, higher taxes on wealthy Americans and alignment with Sanders, a Vermont socialist.

While El-Sayed says he is neither a Democratic Socialists of America member nor a democratic socialist, he has a history of speaking at DSA events.

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Between 2017 and 2020, El-Sayed attended and spoke at six events held by the DSA, including a 2019 fundraiser he headlined. Despite the longstanding relationship, El-Sayed has distanced himself from the DSA when interviewed by the press and outright rejected being labeled a "socialist."

"I'm not technically or practically DSA," El-Sayed told The Wall Street Journal earlier this month. In an interview with CNN, he similarly stated, "I am not somebody who is a socialist. I believe in capitalism. I just believe that capitalism has to be regulated."

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Fox News Digital reached out to Fetterman and El-Sayed for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Robert Schmad contributed to this report.