Fetterman Breaks With Democrats To Back Trump’s Iran Strikes
Sen. John Fetterman, D Pa., broke sharply with many in his party Saturday and offered full-throated support for President Donald Trump following U.S. strikes on Iranian targets. “President Trump has been willing to do what’s right and necessary to produce real peace in the region,” Fetterman wrote on X. “God bless the United States, our great military, and Israel.”
In a separate post reacting to an Axios headline about Democrats demanding a war powers vote after the strikes, Fetterman distanced himself from his party’s pushback.
“Committed Democrat here. I’m a hard no. My vote is Operation Epic Fury,” he wrote.
Appearing later on Fox & Friends Weekend, Fetterman doubled down.
“You can just put out tweets and statements to support peace,” he said. “But to actually create real peace you have to do these kinds of actions just like what happened. Just like last year too when they destroyed their nuclear facilities. Sometimes peace is possible after these kinds of steps and that’s why I support those things.”
He described Trump as “absolutely correct” in authorizing the operation.
The Pennsylvania senator also rejected criticism from Rep. Thomas Massie, R Ky., who posted on X, “Acts of war unauthorized by Congress,” noting the president had not formally sought congressional approval despite a briefing with the Gang of Eight earlier in the week.
“That is bizarre,” Fetterman said. “I would like to remind my colleague 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,” he added. “That’s why I am proud to stand with our military. I am proud to stand with Israel too. I might be a Democrat but in this specific case the president’s absolutely correct to do these kinds of actions.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R S.C., praised Trump in a series of early morning posts.
“As I watch and monitor this historic operation, I’m in awe of President Trump’s determination to be a man of peace but at the end of the day, evil’s worst nightmare,” Graham wrote. “Well done, Mr. President.”
“God bless @POTUS for planning and now executing Operation Epic Fury, making America more safe and eventually more prosperous,” he added. “I seek God’s protection for all under President Trump’s command, as well as our allies in Israel.”
Graham called the mission “necessary and long justified.”
“The biggest change in the Middle East in a thousand years is upon us,” he wrote in a follow up post. “The likelihood of normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel getting back on track is exceedingly high.”
Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker also commended the president’s decision.
“This is a pivotal and necessary operation to protect Americans and American interests,” Wicker said in a statement. “The president has stated the operation’s goals clearly: thwart permanently the ayatollahs’ desire to create a nuclear weapon, degrade their ballistic missile force and their production capacity, and destroy their naval and terrorism capabilities.”
“These are the hardest decisions that face any American commander in chief,” he added.
A U.S. official told Fox News the operation targeted military and ballistic missile sites posing an “imminent threat.” The U.S. military was not targeting Iran’s political leadership, the official said, though Israeli forces were pursuing separate objectives.
Strikes reportedly hit the compound home of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, in Tehran.
In a video message, Trump urged Iranians to stay out of harm’s way. “When we are finished, take over your government,” he said. “It will be yours to take.”
Obama Accuses JD Vance Of Promoting ‘Blood And Soil’ Politics
Former President Barack Obama rarely mentions Vice President JD Vance by name, but that changed this week with one of his sharpest public attacks since Vance took office.
The comments immediately fueled speculation that Democrats are beginning to focus more attention on the vice president as Republicans look ahead to the post-Trump era.
Speaking Thursday during a conversation with author Malcolm Gladwell, Obama accused Vance of promoting what he described as a “blood and soil” vision of America, despite being married to Usha Vance, the daughter of Indian immigrants.
Obama made the remarks while discussing the Reconstruction era and arguing that many of the same debates over citizenship, voting rights and national identity continue today.
“We have a politics now that at least one of our major parties has been captured by politics that is not that subtle about suggesting that ‘We the people’ means a certain kind of people,” Obama said.
“When you have the vice president, current vice president, making a speech that is basically a blood and soil version of ‘We the people,’ that it matters who your parents were and how long they’ve been here despite him being married to a daughter of an immigrant himself.”
The phrase “blood and soil” is historically associated with Nazi Germany and white nationalist ideology.
Obama went on to argue that debates over who belongs in America remain central to the nation’s politics.
“That echoes, then, ideas about who can be a citizen, who belongs, who gets to make decisions,” he said.
Gladwell followed by accusing Vance of hypocrisy, arguing that the vice president was making what he called a nativist argument despite his own family’s immigrant background.
Obama agreed.
“That is progress,” Obama said.
“Listen, hypocrisy is progress. It is, because it means that you feel guilty enough to either lie to yourself or others.”
Fox News Digital reported that it reached out to Vance’s office for comment.
Obama did not identify the specific speech he was criticizing, but Vance’s most recent nationally televised remarks came during Independence Day celebrations marking America’s 250th birthday.
In that speech, Vance encouraged Americans to reject what he called a “two-dimensional view” of the country focused only on its historical failures.
“So what I’d ask you to do, my fellow Americans, on our 250th birthday, is to reject the two-dimensional view of your fellow citizens and reject the two-dimensional view of your country,” Vance said.
“Reject the view of your nation that sees only its sins, but not its grace and its greatness.”
He also emphasized that America’s accomplishments were achieved by “a common people working towards a common future.”
Obama has generally avoided making Vance a regular target since the vice president took office.
One notable exception came during the 2024 presidential campaign when then-Vice President Kamala Harris selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate.
Without naming Vance directly, Obama contrasted Harris’ choice with the Republican ticket.
“When a presidential candidate chooses a running mate, it says a lot about who they are and what kind of president they’ll be,” Obama said at the time, Fox News reported.
Political observers have increasingly discussed Vance as a potential frontrunner for the 2028 Republican presidential nomination, though he has not announced any plans to run.
Against that backdrop, Obama’s unusually direct criticism is likely to fuel speculation that some Democrats are beginning to sharpen their message against a politician they view as a likely future standard-bearer for the Republican Party. While no Democratic leaders have publicly described their strategy in those terms, prominent figures often begin drawing contrasts with potential future rivals well before a presidential campaign officially begins.
Whether that proves to be the case remains to be seen, but Obama’s remarks marked one of his most pointed critiques of Vance to date and ensured the vice president once again found himself at the center of the national political conversation.
Trump Issues Statement Regarding Health of Mitch McConnell
Weeks after former GOP Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was hospitalized for a reportedly serious heart condition, there has been much speculation about his current condition.
Rumors are also swirling about whether he can complete his term, which ends in January.
Initially, reports said that McConnell suffered a “cardiac arrest” and was administered CPR – a health condition that is normally fatal, even for victims much younger than McConnell, who is 84 and has an extensive history of health problems.
But later, in one of the few public updates on the Kentucky Republican’s condition, his staff only said that he was receiving “excellent care.”
However, others who should know more about McConnell’s condition don’t. That includes the president of the United States.
Libby Dean, the White House correspondent for NewsNation, tweeted on Wednesday: “President Trump says he has ‘no idea’ how Sen. Mitch McConnell is doing and says he hasn’t spoken with the Kentucky Republican since McConnell’s hospitalization.”
Now, the governor of the Bluegrass State has grown concerned enough that he has reached out to the senator to inquire about his health.
“As Governor, I request that you fully update Kentuckians regarding the current status of your health,” Gov. Andy Beshear,a Democrat who is seen as a potential 2028 presidential contender, wrote in a letter to McConnell on Wednesday.
“As public officeholders, we have made a commitment to our constituents to do our best to represent them and to always be transparent,” Beshear’s letter continued.
“I believe this requires clear communication about one’s ability to serve,” he added.
Several top Republicans were asked about McConnell’s condition on Tuesday, and their responses were not reassuring.
Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee has said that even members of Congress are in the dark about McConnell’s current condition.
Speculation has surrounded the health of the 84-year-old McConnell since the Kentucky senator was found unconscious and required CPR at his home in Washington, D.C., weeks ago.
McConnell’s staff has provided no significant update on his condition since he was hospitalized June 14.
The secrecy has fueled speculation that there is an effort to keep the full extent of the Republican’s condition from the public and has raised questions about whether he will be able to return to office.
On Monday night, MAGA social media user Mila Joy wondered why other senators haven’t spoken out about McConnell’s condition.
“Because they are ALL in on it together. That’s why,” Joy posted to her 571,000 X followers.
In reply, Sen. Lee posted: “Many of us aren’t speaking about Mitch McConnell’s condition because we know nothing about his condition.”
But Lee’s assessment contradicts earlier comments from Senate Majority Leader John Thune after McConnell was first hospitalized.
Thune said he had spoken to the 84-year-old and that he “sounded good.”
“He wants to be back, but I’ll defer to his staff on when,” Thune said on June 15.
Popular conservative activist Laura Loomer claimed recently that sources told her that McConnell is in a “vegetative state,” dismissing Thune’s version of events.
Things with McConnell have gotten worse by the day.
Since the reported incident, McConnell’s office has provided scant details on the former Senate GOP leader’s health condition, except to say that he allegedly “appreciates the outpouring of support he’s receiving while he continues his recovery in the hospital.”
His office last week also said the 84-year-old senator “continues to improve, and is working closely with his staff on Kentucky and Senate matters while the Senate is out of session.”
