Pennsylvania senators John Fetterman and Dave McCormick sat down together Monday for a livestreamed discussion on antisemitism, foreign policy and other topics that unite them in a time of deep political rifts.
The two shook hands and exchanged a quick hug before beginning their roughly half-hour conversation inside a replica of the U.S. Senate chamber at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute in Boston.
The senators have formed a warm relationship during their time in D.C., with Fetterman willing to boost McCormick’s recent book tour and the GOP official defending Fetterman amid concerns about the Democrat’s fitness for office.
The livestreamed event, moderated by Shannon Bream of Fox News, was the sixth installment of the Senate Project, in which senators from opposing parties discuss politics and policy.
The Keystone State has had divided representation since earlier this year, when McCormick took office after unseating longtime Democratic Sen. Bob Casey.
Here are four takeaways from the conversation between McCormick and Fetterman.
Fetterman accused progressives of trying to ‘smear’ him
Monday’s event came after a string of recent news articles that have raised questions about Fetterman’s mental health and job performance. In one article, Fetterman’s former chief of staff said the senator had been behaving erratically and didn’t seem to be following his health regimens.
Other pieces have focused on Fetterman’s frequent absences from committee hearings and tendency to skip floor votes he deems pointless.
Over the weekend, Bream noted, the Philadelphia Inquirer published an editorial calling on Fetterman to treat his job seriously or step aside from the post.
Fetterman, who suffered from a life-threatening stroke during his 2022 Senate campaign and was hospitalized with depression shortly after taking office, on Monday called these allegations part of a “weird smear” against him.
He contends that Democrats are attacking him for his pro-Israel position and willingness to find common ground with Republicans. Fetterman noted that Sens. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent, and Patty Murray, D-Washington, have also missed a number of floor votes.
“Why aren’t the left media yelling … and claiming they’re not doing their job?” he said. “Just be genuine on that.”
Senators decry acts of antisemitism, voice pro-Israel sentiment
The senators each expressed concern about antisemitism and recent acts of violence against Jewish people in the U.S.
The evening before the discussion, police said a man in Colorado threw a Molotov cocktail at a gathering of Jewish people who were calling for the release of Israeli hostages taken by Hamas. Eight people were injured in the Sunday attack.
McCormick also said he’d witnessed disturbing behavior during the pro-Palestinian protests that have roiled American campuses.
“This wasn’t free speech. This was intimidation. In some cases, physical violence,” he said. “It’s something that we have to push back on. It’s something we have to require and mandate that our institutions extricate themselves of anti-semitism.”
President Donald Trump has cited antisemitism as a justification for his higher education crackdown. His administration has frozen billions of dollars in federal funding and tried to intervene in hiring, admissions and teaching practices at some institutions.
Fetterman has angered many in his party with his vociferous support for Israel in its conflict with Hamas. The death and hunger in Gaza has troubled him, he said, but he blames Israel’s enemies for this human suffering.
The Democrat said he’s been followed and heckled as “genocide John” for backing Israel, adding that if he’s facing this type of hostility, the Jewish community must feel “constantly under assault” in the current climate.
“We’ve lost the argument in parts of my party,” he said. “For me, that moral clarity, it’s really firmly on Israel.”
The senators largely lined up on Ukraine conflict
Fetterman and McCormick agreed that Russia was the aggressor in its attacks on Ukraine, despite Trump’s assertions to the contrary.
Fetterman said when he was growing up, Russia was considered “the evil empire.”
“And that hasn’t changed,” he said.
Still, the senators also emphasized the importance of ending a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of Ukrainians and reduced some of its communities to rubble.
Ukraine is understandably concerned that Russia might violate the terms of any peace deal, McCormick said. Deepening the U.S. economic interests in the region — as Trump’s administration has tried to do by signing a rare earth mineral deal with Ukraine — could help deter Russia from future acts of aggression and build Ukraine’s confidence in an accord.
They differed over the ‘big, beautiful bill’
McCormick called the Trump administration’s marquee legislation a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” and stressed the importance of extending the 2017 tax cuts Trump had enacted during his first administration.
He also favors the “big, beautiful” bill’s increases to defense funding and border security and proposed cuts aimed at reducing government spending in certain areas. Now that the House of Representatives has passed the bill, Republicans in the Senate will likely look for even deeper cost cuts, he said.
“I think that’s where the debate’s going to be, is how do we pay for these things but also take some further reductions in the growth of spending,” he said.
Fetterman said he can also get behind additional investments in immigration enforcement.
But he noted the overall bill is expected to balloon the nation’s deficit, which could increase by nearly $4 trillion over 10 years because of the continued tax cuts, the Congressional Budget Office estimates.
He also said he can’t support a measure that would ax funding for Medicaid and anti-hunger programs. The nonpartisan congressional budget analysts have projected a roughly $700 billion drop in federal spending on Medicaid and a $267 billion decrease on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as the food stamp program.
“I don’t think that’s an appropriate target,” Fetterman said.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News / USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
