Senators from opposing parties in the key battleground state faced off live in an event hosted by Fox News.
Senators John Fetterman (D-PA) and Dave McCormick (R-PA) joined a live event on Fox News to discuss the Middle East, the Trump administration, and the state of politics in 2025. The discussion was part of The Senate Project on Fox, a bipartisan series through the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate and the Orrin G. Hatch Foundation. Fetterman, who took office in 2023, has developed a media-focused reputation for bucking his own party, and McCormick, a freshman in his first year has become a reported stalwart ally of President Donald Trump.
McCormick discussed his first year in the Senate, and described a conversation he had with Fetterman shortly after he was sworn in. “We sat down within a week or two after I got elected and talked about a bunch of things,” McCormick said. “There’s a number of things we agreed on. We had both taken different positions on this, but we agreed the most important thing was the workers in Pennsylvania.” McCormick noted that while he and Fetterman have different styles, the two still have common ground on some key issues.
Among those key issues discussed during the event was the Middle East, where Sen. Fetterman has already vocally disagreed with Democrats over the last year. Fetterman last year criticized President Joe Biden’s administration for its handling of the war in Gaza and even traveled to Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. During the Senate Project event, Fetterman endorsed President Trump’s ongoing efforts with Iran, as well as his decision to pull the U.S. out of the Iranian Nuclear Agreement negotiated by Barack Obama.
“I really do think now Trump did the right thing to break that agreement,” the Democrat told Fox. “I wasn’t really allowed to disagree politically with the original agreement. Iran attacked Israel, and it’s very clear they lack the capabilities to really project that kind of––and then Israel struck back and destroyed the batteries that protect their nuclear facilities, and they also hit the nuclear lab as well, too.” Fetterman also suggested that to the Trump administration in April to use a military strike to destroy Iran’s current nuclear capabilities. He also criticized his party for being “unwilling” to have discussions with Trump on the Middle East and applauded the President’s decision in his first term to relocate the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem.
Fetterman and McCormick repeatedly found common ground on the Israeli issue. Several times during the event, Fetterman referred to McCormick as “my friend”, and the two condemned antisemitism and pro-Palestinian rhetoric on college campuses. Both men specified the University of Pennsylvania as one of the epicenters for antisemitism. Fetterman used the forum to issue a warning to his fellow Democrats, saying that “Pro-Israel Democrats” had “lost the argument” and were becoming the minority.
The two battleground Senators also found common ground discussing Ukraine, where Fetterman stressed the importance of continuing to support Ukraine, but also praised Trump and Republicans for continued efforts to negotiate a ceasefire deal. McCormick, who appeared to break with Republicans, suggested that continuing to assist Ukraine’s military prowess was “the only way, I think, to keep the pressure on. Russia is the aggressor.” Trump has made some progress working towards a ceasefire deal and has spoken to both President Putin and President Zelensky.
Among the domestic issues discussed, both Fetterman and McCormick appeared to agree with the recent merger between U.S. Steel and Japanese company Nippon Steel. Fetterman credited the Biden administration for initially opposing the merger but agreed with McCormick that Trump had ultimately done the right thing working to negotiate a fair agreement that would keep steel production in the U.S., and mainly Pittsburgh.
