President Donald Trump has rapidly escalated his threats against Iran as the country's regime trades missiles with Israel, with his proclamation warning Tehran's roughly 10 million people to evacuate their homes being condemned as a "terroristic threat." But Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) appeared to take things even further.
According to Fox News congressional correspondent Chad Pergram, Fetterman told him he would vote down a pending resolution by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) restricting the conditions under which Trump can declare war against Iran, because "I'm going to vote it down... I really hope the president finally does bomb and destroy the Iranians."
Fetterman, who since being elected has staked out an extremely hawkish position in support of Israel and against its military enemies, swiftly clarified in a post on X that he was not advocating for killing civilians, saying, "To be perfectly clear: destroying the Iranian regime. Free the Iranian citizens from this cancerous, repressive, and authoritarian regime."
Nonetheless, Fetterman's apparent initial choice of the words "destroy the Iranians" prompted immediate outrage on social media, with many calling it irresponsible.
"He’s gone a long way on vibes, finally meets an issue that requires the input of serious people and he talks about bombing and killing like it’s a video game," wrote former Pennsylvania Rep. Conor Lamb, who ran against Fetterman in his 2022 primary. "I would say it’s embarrassing but if you think about the human lives involved it’s far worse than that."
"The Iranian people have a rich culture and deserve the dignity and respect owed to all humans. We can — and should — criticize their dictatorship and authoritarian regime without dehumanizing them as a people," wrote former congressional staffer and MSNBC contributor Rotimi Adeoye. "Senator Fetterman’s comments are reckless and dehumanizing. Criticizing Iran’s regime is fair game, but reducing an entire people to their government’s actions is the same logic used to justify endless war. We should expect better."
"Alright, who is going to primary @SenFettermanPA? Real question," wrote former Ohio state senator and left-wing activist Nina Turner.
"Polling shows an 75% of Americans agree that Iran cannot have a nuke. They likely also approve of Israel taking limited action (no boots, targeted at military/nuke development centers)," wrote attorney Harris Peskin. "But Kaine is right, Fetterman is wrong, the President should not have these unilateral powers."
