Sens. John Fetterman (D-PA) and Dave McCormick (R-PA) exhibited a rare sign of bipartisanship this week as the two tried to counteract the rising political rhetoric.
In an interview with Washington Examiner columnist Salena Zito, Fetterman offered kind words to his Senate colleague on the opposite side of the aisle.
“I think he’s great,” Fetterman said of McCormick. “And some people are angry with me, and that’s unfortunate, but I’m not going to change, and we’re going to work together, and we’re not going to go after each other or attack people.”
“I think it’s better for people to get along and to be friends, as opposed to calling them pieces of s*** or they’re Nazis,” he continued. “I reject that in the strongest terms.”
In a statement of his own, McCormick reciprocated Fetterman’s collegiality.
The Pennsylvania Democrat has consistently broken with others in his party on foreign policy and immigration, often angering those who lean further to the left.
For instance, Fetterman has been a staunch supporter of Israel in its war against Hamas and backed President Donald Trump‘s immigration policies. On immigration, he has opposed the intensifying rhetoric from his party over Immigration and Customs Enforcement‘s presence in Minnesota.
“I just don’t understand it right now. Leaders in my party are calling ICE or other Republicans the Gestapo or Nazis, and I think that is disgusting,” he told the Washington Examiner. “Don’t compare anyone to Nazis. No one.”
Furthermore, Fetterman rejected calls to defund or abolish ICE as Congress considers the Department of Homeland Security‘s appropriations bill. Defunding ICE is unlikely to happen if the federal government shuts down by the end of the week because the agency uses funding from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Fetterman also said he would “never vote to shut our government down,” a point he first made during the historic 43-day government shutdown last fall.
Despite their political differences, Fetterman and McCormick tend to get along.
SALENA ZITO: BEING JOHN FETTERMAN
Both have worked together on bipartisan legislation, including a bill to improve federal coordination in fighting the nation’s fentanyl crisis last year.
The pair have appeared together onstage and in interviews, demonstrating their friendly working relationship. Both senators also share a commonality, having lived in the Pittsburgh area for years.