Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania said Sunday that members of his own party should support U.S. military strikes against Iran if they believe Tehran must be prevented from developing nuclear weapons, citing comments made by Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential campaign as he continued to distance himself from the Democratic Party’s stance on the issue.

Speaking during an interview with John Catsimatidis on WABC radio, Fetterman said he stood alone among Senate Democrats in backing the operation known as Epic Fury. “I became the only Democrat, certainly in the Senate, to support the mission of Epic Fury,” he said, urging fellow Democrats to acknowledge what he described as a successful effort that damaged Iran’s nuclear program.

Fetterman pointed to remarks Harris made while running for president in 2024, when she described Iran as the United States’ most significant foreign adversary. “When Kamala Harris ran for president … she identified Iran as her top international concern,” Fetterman said. “And now, here we have a situation where the Trump administration through Epic Fury has effectively broken the Iranian nuclear apparatus. Why can’t we agree that that’s a good thing for international security?”

Harris had made that assessment during a 2024 interview on “60 Minutes,” where she said Iran was the United States’ “greatest adversary.”

Fetterman also suggested that even if the military campaign leads to higher energy prices, the strategic benefit of weakening Iran’s nuclear program would outweigh the economic costs.

“If the administration creates the kind of outcome that we all agree and wanted … why can’t we support that?” he said.

During the same interview, Fetterman criticized Democrats over the ongoing dispute surrounding funding for the Department of Homeland Security.

“The Coast Guard people … and the TSA agents … they all deserve to be paid,” he said. “This shutdown has had zero impact on ICE. So, why should we punish all of these workers … who are keeping our nation more secure?”

According to CBS News, nearly every Senate Democrat voted against advancing a DHS funding measure on Feb. 13, with Fetterman standing as the only member of the party to oppose the shutdown effort.

“I [was] the only Democrat to vote against that DHS shutdown,” he told Catsimatidis.

Reports from The Associated Press said Democrats were willing to approve funding for much of the department but were seeking changes to the operations of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection. Reuters reported that the impasse continued as of March 12, contributing to longer security screening lines at airports as TSA agents went unpaid.

Fetterman framed the standoff as a departure from the party’s traditional support for workers.

“Don’t shut the government down. We used to be the party that refused to do these things,” he said. “I thought we are the party of union workers.”

“[Now] we are constantly voting to prevent them from being paid for their work,” he added.

{Matzav.com}