Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., said he's "not woke" while discussing squatters' rights in a recent interview.
Fetterman, whose casual attire in the Senate and depression treatment drew much attention during his first full year in the chamber in 2023, addressed squatters' rights during an interview last week with the New York Post.
"Squatters have no rights," Fetterman said. "How can you even pretend that this is anything other than you're just breaking the law?"
"I am not woke," he added.
In New York City and other areas, home and apartment owners are having difficulty removing squatters who have bedded down illegally in private residences.
"We always tried to push back against that," said Fetterman, who added that he dealt with the issue while serving as mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania. "It's wild, that if you go away on a long trip, for 30 days, and someone breaks into your home and suddenly they have rights. This is crazy. Like if somebody stole your car, and then they held it for 30 days, then somehow you now have some rights?"
Fetterman, who defeated Republican Mehmet Oz in the 2022 Pennsylvania U.S. Senate race, also criticized soft-on-crime policies. He spoke nearly two weeks after NYPD Detective Jonathan Diller was killed during a traffic stop.
Diller's accused killer, Guy Rivera, had at least 21 prior arrests, mainly for drugs and assault.
"I have gone to police funerals," Fetterman told the Post. "If this individual is convicted, then he should spend the rest of his life and in prison, and never have an opportunity to get out."
Three of Fetterman's top communication staffers resigned recently to pursue more liberal positions as the senator moves more to the center on key issues.
"I'm not a progressive," Fetterman told NBC News in December. "I just think I'm a Democrat that is very committed to choice and other things. But with Israel, I'm going to be on the right side of that. And immigration is something near and dear to me, and I think we do have to effectively address it as well."
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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