John Fetterman breaks with Democrats opposed to Iran strikes, backs Trump's decision to act
· Fox News
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., appeared on "Fox & Friends Weekend" Saturday, where he broke from Democrats who have come out in opposition to President Donald Trump's decision to launch a joint military offensive carried out by the U.S. and Israel against Iran.
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Prior to Saturday's strikes against the Islamic Republic of Iran, several members of Congress, including longtime Trump critic Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., came out in opposition to Operation Epic Fury, the U.S. strikes on Iranian military targets. The group of four Republican and Democratic leaders of Congress and four other members of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees call themselves the Gang of Eight.
Fetterman was asked by Fox News' Lawrence B. Jones why he had decided to break from those within his own party, and some Republicans, who didn't agree with Trump's decision to strike Iran.
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"Well, because that was always the right thing," he responded. "You can just put out, you know, tweets and statements, you know, to support peace, but to actually create real peace, you have to do these kinds of actions just like what [just] happened. Just like last year too, when they — to destroy [Iran's] nuclear facilities."
The senator argued that "peace is possible after these kinds of steps," which he said is why he supports the actions taken by the United States and Israel against the Iranian regime.
"I fully support these kinds of things and I'm proud to stand with our military and Israel through this and that was the right thing," he added.
Co-host Ainsley Earhardt referenced Fetterman’s post on X following news of the strikes against Iran, in which he wrote, "President Trump has been willing to do what's right and necessary to produce real peace in the region. God bless the United States, our great military, and Israel."
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Earhardt asked the senator for his response to those like Massie and his Democratic colleagues who oppose the operation.
"I'd like to remind my colleagues over in the House that Iran massacred 30,000 of their own people right now. This war is not about the Iranian people, it's about this poisonous regime and that's why I'm proud to stand with our military. I'm proud to stand with Israel too," he asserted.
"I might be a Democrat, but in this specific case, the president is absolutely correct to do these kinds of actions, and now we have Israel's back. And now that's why it's entirely the path for peace in that region."
Fetterman added that he "never thought" the negotiations between Iran and the U.S. would work out and that there is now an opportunity for "real peace" in the region.
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Later on in the interview, Jones noted that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had confirmed that the Gang of Eight was given a "heads up" prior to Operation Epic Fury taking place. He asked Fetterman, "from a congressional standpoint," what he'd like to hear from the Trump administration about the operation, considering "this has the potential of lasting weeks."
"Well… we don't know how long it would last, but I would look back what happened in June when Israel had the war against Iran. And it took just a couple [of] days for Iran to beg for a ceasefire. Israel was able to achieve air supremacy after like two to three days," he contended. "So we [will] see how long it will last, but now America here right now is in the part of that and [Iranian] targets were being effectively picked off."
Fetterman added that he'd seen reports of Iranian citizens "laughing" when they heard news of strikes hitting the compound home of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 86, in downtown Tehran on Saturday morning.
Fox News Digital's Eric Mack contributed to this report.