Fetterman breaks with Democrats to back Trump taking military action in Iran if necessary
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., said Monday that he would surely support President Donald Trump taking military action in Iran if it was deemed necessary.
"Sure, absolutely," he said on CNN. "If it continues to make more sense, absolutely. I think I was the only Democrat that fully supported our strike of their Iranian nuclear facilities last year."
"Without those kinds of strikes, Iran could have acquired a nuclear bomb. I hope we can all agree that Iran should have never acquired a nuclear bomb," he added.
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"Iran is one of the world's top terrorist [underwriters], and now you have that poisonous regime now in spiral — so why wouldn't we want to support that and those brave protesters," the Democrat added. "They've killed probably more than 600 by now, so now, why [wouldn't] we want to have the kinds of targeted kinds of action that could break that regime?"
Host Kate Bolduan relayed that Trump administration officials said potential strikes by the U.S. could undermine protests and raise support for Iran.
Fetterman said again he backed the strikes if they made sense and said he was inspired by the protesters' courage.
"I don’t know why we can't all want to support that, to back them and now bring that awful regime to its knees," he said.
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"They're so desperate. Now they've killed the internet, and now they're mowing down their own citizens," he went on. "I think we can all agree that the world would be better, safer, and more just if you could break that regime."
Rep. Pat Ryan, D-N.Y., followed up Fetterman’s appearance on CNN, and said his fellow Democrat’s comments raised his blood pressure.
"That pisses me off… I was on the receiving end of 27 months in combat in Iraq, where I lost friends and many innocent Iraqis lost their lives," Ryan said, calling the Iranian regime evil but saying it was wrong to bypass Congress on military action.
Trump said Sunday that Iran is "starting to" cross U.S. red lines amid anti-regime protests, citing reports of civilian deaths and warning that any attack on American interests would be met with overwhelming force as his administration weighs what he called "very strong options."
"They're starting to, it looks like, and there seem to be some people killed that aren't supposed to be killed," he told reporters. "These are violent — if you call them leaders, I don't know if they're leaders or just if they rule through violence. And, we're looking at some very strong options. We’ll make a determination."