‘Sit Down, Tough Guy’ — Fetterman Just Called Mamdani a Clown and Meant It
‘Sit Down, Tough Guy’ — Fetterman Just Called Mamdani a Clown and Meant It
John Fetterman doesn’t do diplomatic. And on Sunday morning, watching the mayor of New York City threaten to arrest the Prime Minister of Israel, the Pennsylvania Democrat decided diplomacy was overrated anyway.
“Sit down, tough guy.”
That was Fetterman’s on-air response to Mamdani’s increasingly elaborate threat to deploy the NYPD against Benjamin Netanyahu when he arrives in New York for the United Nations General Assembly in September. He added one more word that cuts through all of the mayor’s legal maneuvering and activist posturing: “clown.”
He’s right. On both counts.
Let’s be clear about what Mamdani is actually doing here. He went on the record with the New York Times saying his legal team is having “active conversations” about whether New York City has any authority to act on the International Criminal Court’s warrant for Netanyahu. He wouldn’t say whether he’d order the NYPD to physically arrest a foreign head of government. He wouldn’t address diplomatic immunity — which covers foreign leaders attending UN sessions and is about as settled in international law as anything gets. What he said is that Netanyahu “belongs in The Hague” and that the conversations are ongoing.
This is theater. Sophisticated theater, designed to play to a base that elected him specifically because he talks this way — but theater nonetheless.
The United States is not a signatory to the Rome Statute. The ICC has no jurisdiction over American soil that any American court or law enforcement agency is obligated to recognize. The NYPD cannot legally arrest a foreign head of state attending a UN session in New York City based on a warrant from a court the federal government doesn’t recognize. Legal commentators across the political spectrum have called the whole premise, in the words of one attorney, “clown level stuff.”
Fetterman zeroed in on exactly this: “He has no way to do that, of course, obviously. America’s not even part of that corrupt court. So he’s just a clown to even say that.”
White House Privately Braces for 2027
The White House is quietly preparing for a Democratic takeover of the House by hiring lawyers to fend off a wave of legal challenges that could cripple the final two years of President Donald Trump’s time in office.
The preparations illustrate how the White House is privately preparing for the possibility that Democrats will regain at least one chamber of Congress in November, even as Republicans express confidence in public, according to people close to the administration.
A Democratic House next year could be reminiscent of 2018 fights that included impeachment inquiries of the president and multiple investigations into his inner circle.
Michael Williams, who served in White House roles in President Donald Trump’s first term and was deputy general counsel for the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee, said staff is already preparing for another impeachment push even as Trump sets a broader strategy for dealing with Democrats.
“They’re ready for that eventuality,” Williams told Bloomberg Government. “I don’t think they’re ready to concede that that’s the likely outcome, but they’re certainly prepared in that event.”
Emma Doyle, former chief of staff at the Office of Management and Budget during Trump’s first term who later worked in the West Wing, said the administration is already hiring experienced lawyers to help prepare officials for impeachment, as she did in the first term.
The return of advisers Jason Miller and Johnny DeStefano strengthens the White House for those fights, Doyle said, along with staff such as Mark Paoletta, the OMB general counsel who worked on impeachment defense in the first term.
Miller and DeStefano rejoined the White House last month to work on midterm strategy.
However, Democrats are facing their own problems.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) may find himself caught in the very blue wave he hopes to ride into power this November.
More and more Democratic candidates are telling Axios that they can’t promise to support his leadership.
It’s a big change from Jeffries’ once “untouchable” position in the Democratic Party just a few years ago. This could mean his path to the speakership will be harder than people thought.
Jeffries and his supporters say they aren’t worried at all about a mass defection. They point out that he hasn’t lost a Democratic vote in 20 speakers’ ballots, even though he is in the minority.
However, this group of new candidates could potentially be the first challenge to the previously unyielding support.
A group of viable candidates has made it clear that voting for Jeffries as speaker is not a given if the Democrats win the House.
Axios reported that more than 80 Democratic House candidates across the country were either not sure if they would support Jeffries’ leadership or were completely against it.
Since then, things have only gotten worse for him.
The tension was on display in New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District. Democrat nominee Rebecca Bennett, who likely needs to beat Rep. Tom Kean (R-NJ) if Democrats have any shot at the majority, refused to commit to voting for Jeffries before her primary win.
Likewise, Iowa’s 1st congressional Democratic nominee Christina Bohannan is also noncommittal, merely responding “I don’t know yet. I haven’t made that decision,” when asked by Punchbowl News if she would support Jeffries.
“I want to get elected first,” she continued.
The nonpartisan Cook Political Report has classified both Bohannan and Bennett’s districts as toss-ups.
Republicans currently hold both seats.
Montana’s 1st congressional Democratic nominee Sam Forstag echoed similar sentiments as Bohannan.
Forstag sits in a seat labeled “likely Republican,” but has no incumbent running.
Mai Vang, the leading progressive primary challenger to Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.), previously said she would “support the person that my future colleagues elect as our leader.”
But in an unprompted statement last week, she told Axios: “The Democratic Party and its leadership—Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries—have failed to mobilize meaningful opposition to Trump’s illegal war and their silence as AIPAC and corporations flood Congressional primaries with millions of dollars is deafening.”
“I cannot support this kind of leadership,” Vang said. “If we want to defeat Trump and rebuild trust with working Americans, we need new leadership and a new direction.”
“Most Democrats agree that he’s been failing to meet the moment,” said Adam Hamawy, a candidate in New Jersey’s 12th district, saying he is “looking for someone that’s gonna stand up to the administration.”
When asked if she would support Jeffries’ leadership, Claire Valdez, a New York State Assembly member who is running to replace retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.), said in an interview with Axios that “there would need to be some conversations.”
Trump-Backed Candidates Steamroll AZ Primaries, Setting Up November Showdown
President Donald Trump’s endorsed slate powered through Arizona’s Republican primaries Tuesday, delivering decisive wins that underscored the president’s enduring grip on the GOP.
The primary wins also position conservatives for a strong push to reclaim the governor’s mansion and hold key congressional seats in the November midterms.
Trump-endorsed U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs cruised to the Republican nomination for governor, defeating fellow Rep. David Schweikert and other challengers by a wide margin.
The victory sets up a high-stakes rematch against Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, who won her party’s nomination unopposed and narrowly defeated former Trump-backed candidate Kari Lake in 2022.
“Two fantastic candidates, two terrific people, two wonderful champions, and it is therefore my Great Honor TO GIVE MY COMPLETE AND TOTAL ENDORSEMENT TO BOTH,” Trump said earlier when backing both Biggs and another contender before Biggs entered the race.
At a Phoenix rally, Trump added, “I hate to lose him from Congress… but he’ll be a great governor.”
Biggs, a longtime America First conservative and former Freedom Caucus chairman, ran on cutting taxes, securing the border, and restoring law and order.
His decisive primary triumph reinforces Trump’s perfect record backing statewide Republican primary winners in Arizona.
In the open 1st Congressional District race vacated by Schweikert, former Arizona Cardinals kicker and sports analyst Jay Feely captured the GOP nomination with Trump’s support.
Feely, positioned as a true America First conservative, will face Democrat Amish Shah in the general election in the competitive suburban district that includes parts of Scottsdale and northeastern Maricopa County.
Trump praised Feely and another candidate in a Truth Social post as “Two Highly Respected America First Patriots” and gave both his “Complete and Total Endorsement,” stating “JAY OR GINA WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!”
Feely has emphasized fighting for border security, economic growth, and putting Arizona families first.
Former Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, another Trump favorite, won the Republican primary in the 5th Congressional District, the deep-red seat Biggs is leaving.
Trump called Lamb a “MAGA Warrior” and declared, “It is my Great Honor to endorse MAGA Warrior Mark Lamb… Mark Lamb has my Complete and Total Endorsement to be the next Congressman from Arizona’s 5th Congressional District — HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!”
Lamb, known for his tough-on-crime stance and support for law enforcement, military, and veterans, ran on keeping the border secure, cutting taxes and regulations, and championing American energy dominance.
In Arizona’s 6th Congressional District, Trump-endorsed incumbent Rep. Juan Ciscomani advanced unopposed, locking in a strong conservative voice for the competitive seat.
Trump also backed other Arizona Republicans, including Reps. Eli Crane, Paul Gosar, and Abe Hamadeh, signaling broad party alignment behind candidates who prioritize his agenda of border security, economic strength, and election integrity.
On the Democratic side, Hobbs sailed to renomination while some progressive challengers tested incumbents in House races.
Rep. Greg Stanton held off a far-left challenger in the 4th District, avoiding a major upset and keeping the focus on general election dynamics.
The primary results show Republican unity behind Trump-aligned candidates who focus on core conservative priorities: securing the southern border in a state at the center of the migrant crisis, reducing government overreach, and delivering results for working families.
Biggs and the congressional nominees have pledged to work closely with the Trump administration on these fronts.
These victories come as Republicans eye gains in the 2026 midterms.
Arizona remains a key battleground, and a Biggs win would return the governor’s office to GOP hands after Hobbs’ narrow 2022 victory.
The results serve as an early indicator of party strength in the Sun Belt battleground, with the midterms roughly 100 days away.
