Pennsylvania’s U.S. senators are nothing if not collegial.
Sens. John Fetterman (D) and Dave McCormick (R) discussed foreign policy, border security, and President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” Monday morning at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate in Boston. The event was part of “The Senate Project” series, moderated by Fox News Sunday anchor Shannon Bream, and livestreamed on Fox Nation.
While it was called a debate, there were few strong disagreements during what amounted to a cordial conversation about current events.
Bream asked the two Pennsylvania senators about Sunday’s Molotov cocktail attack in Boulder, Colo. targeting people demonstrating in support of Israeli hostages being held by Hamas terrorists.
McCormick, who just returned from a trip to Israel, said he traveled there not long after the Oct. 7 terror attack and “saw first-hand what had taken place that day.”
“But the thing that was most surprising was to see these huge rallies and hatred, really, at the University of Pennsylvania and other places…This wasn’t free speech. This was intimidation and sometimes physical violence.”
U.S. Sens. John Fetterman and Dave McCormick participate in “The Senate Project” series at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate in Boston on June 2, 2025.
“This is something we have to stand up against,” said McCormick.
Fetterman first met McCormick at a service remembering the fifth anniversary of the antisemitic massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh.
“It’s astonishing the kinds of rank antisemitism (not) under control,” said Fetterman. “This is just rampant across universities.”
“And now for me politically, being very on the side of Israel, puts parts of my party at odds,” said Fetterman. “I think we need to deliver a legislative solution to it.”
For the last 18 months, he’s been followed by protesters screaming “Free, Palestine” and “Genocide John,” Fetterman said. “That’s a small, small thing. I can’t imagine how members of the Jewish community must feel, constantly under assault.”
“That’s not free speech,” Fetterman said, echoing McCormick. “Building tent cities on campus and terrorizing and intimidating Jewish students, that’s not free speech.”
Fetterman pushed back on the argument that Israel wants to see tragedy in Gaza.
“You know who does want that? That’s Hamas,” Fetterman said. “I think we should blame Iran and Hamas, and other people blame Israel. I refuse to allow them to turn Israel into a pariah state.”
Fetterman would like to see Iran’s nuclear facilities bombed.
“I think we have an opportunity to destroy that nuclear facility,” said Fetterman. “They’re definitely enriching uranium now. They’re at 60 percent, 900 pounds of that. And it’s a short step to get to weapons grade.”
Israel destroyed Iran’s defenses after that country attacked it, and now, “we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to destroy that facility,” said Fetterman.
McCormick again agreed with his Democratic counterpart, pointing out that Iran has publicly stated its goal of destroying Israel, as well as “the Great Satan, which is the United States.” A nuclear-armed Iran is “an unacceptable outcome.”
“And President Trump has said any deal would have to have complete dismantling of the nuclear program,” McCormick added.
Fetterman supports sanctions against Russia to end the war in Ukraine.
McCormick agreed. But he put the blame for the war on Joe Biden and his handling of Afghanistan, as well as the “very weak signaling on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, all of these things gave a green light to Putin to go into Ukraine.”
The senators disagreed on Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” which is pending in the Senate. Fetterman said he’s a no vote because he does not want to cut Medicaid or SNAP (food stamps).
“I see people standing in lines for food, and it’s not because they want free stuff,” he said. “It’s because they don’t have enough to eat. That’s a real thing. And I don’t think that’s an appropriate target.”
McCormick pointed out that the GOP’s goal is to get Medicaid and other social services to people who truly need them — and who are eligible for them.
“We agree we should not take benefits away from vulnerable people. I’m not advocating with Medicaid that we cut benefits from people who the program was designed,” McCormick said.
“But what’s happened is Medicaid spending has grown by $250 million in five years. It’s the fastest-growing line in the budget. SNAP has grown by $80 million in the last five years. Part of the reason those programs have grown is there are people taking advantage — working-aged men without dependents. And those are illegal immigrants in a number of cases.”
Fetterman was generally critical of the GOP spending plan, but he was willing to cross the aisle and support the bill’s money for border security.
“Our party did not handle the border appropriately,” said Fetterman. “That’s a national security issue, and that’s chaos.” But he’s also pro-immigration, “as a Democrat.”
Fetterman has been under attack from the political left, including in The Inquirer, with progressives responding to his support for Israel by suggesting he’s suffering mental incapacity. Bream pointed out McCormick has come to Fetterman’s defense in the face of those charges.
“It’s part of this weird smear,” said Fetterman, who said he’s getting more and more “incoming” for being for Israel, for a strong border, and against shutting down the government. He’s also been attacked for what some suggest is absenteeism.
Fetterman acknowledged he’d missed some votes, but it was strategic.
“I have three young kids,” Fetterman said, and he sometimes skipped procedural votes to spend more time with them. “That’s a choice that I made.”
“If you want to attack me for that, go ahead,” he added “But I’d like to point out that, you know, Bernie and Sen. Murray missed more. Why isn’t the left media yelling and saying they’re not doing their job?”
McCormick said he was happy to defend Fetterman, but he wasn’t sure if that would create even more political problems for the Democrat.
“The same people that elected me, elected him for the most part,” said McCormick. “They overlap. We both care deeply about Pennsylvania…We have many disagreements but the thing we both agree on, is it’s an honor to serve Pennsylvania and we want to work together.”
