Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., said Monday he would support President Donald Trump taking military action against Iran if such action were deemed necessary.
“Sure, absolutely,” Fetterman 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.”
Fetterman argued that, without that kind of military action, Iran could have moved closer to acquiring a nuclear weapon.
“Without those kinds of strikes, Iran could have acquired a nuclear bomb,” he said. “I hope we can all agree that Iran should have never acquired a nuclear bomb.”
He also pointed to Iran’s role in supporting terrorism and referenced the ongoing anti-regime protests, saying he believed the U.S. should stand behind demonstrators.
“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?” Fetterman said. “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 noted that Trump administration officials have warned potential U.S. strikes could backfire by undermining protests and increasing support for Iranian authorities.
Fetterman reiterated that he would back strikes if they “made sense,” and said he was motivated by what he described as 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.
Fetterman also accused Iranian authorities of cracking down on communication and targeting civilians.
“They’re so desperate. Now they’ve killed the internet, and now they’re mowing down their own citizens,” he said. “I think we can all agree that the world would be better, safer and more just if you could break that regime.”
After Fetterman’s appearance, Rep. Pat Ryan, D-N.Y., criticized his fellow Democrat’s remarks and said he was concerned about military action being taken without congressional approval.
“That p—– 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. While calling Iran’s leadership evil, he argued it would be wrong to bypass Congress on any military action.
Trump, meanwhile, said Sunday that Iran was “starting to” cross U.S. red lines amid the unrest, citing reports of civilian deaths. He warned that any attack on American interests would be met with overwhelming force, and said his administration was weighing what he described as “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,” Trump 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.”
