Sen. John Fetterman did not back down in the face of historically bad polling numbers in his appearance this weekend on Fox News’ “My View” with Lara Trump.
Fetterman entered the day fresh off a new Quinnipiac poll that showed him at -40 in favorability rating with Pennsylvania Democrats. That is a historic 108-point swing from his 68 favorability rating back in 2023.
The brutal numbers were part of a segment by CNN data guru Harry Enten on Friday, and among the issues highlighted was Fetterman’s recent claim that Democratic Party does not have a leader and is instead lead by “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
Lara Trump touched on that with Fetterman, but the interview began with the Senator discussing being the lone Democratic vote for Markwayne Mullin to be Homeland Security Secretary.
“Because I believe in a very secure border, and we also agree that we should deport all of the criminals,” Fetterman said explaining why he voted for Mullin. “My friend Markwayne and I, we agree on that. And, also we have a relationship. I voted for him because he is a friend, and he and I have the same kind of priorities about our security.
Senator Fetterman asks the one question Democrats don’t want answered about the DHS shutdown:
“Why would you want to make America more unsecured in the middle of these kinds [Islamist] attacks?”
FETTERMAN: “I have been consistently the only Democrat to vote against this… pic.twitter.com/fPf3Ls5dPL
— Overton (@overton_news) March 22, 2026
“I know I’m going to take a lot of Democratic blowback, which is strange to me because there wasn’t really a lot of Democratic outrage when 300,000 people were encountered at our border during the prior administration,” he continued. “I was. I started to make the argument. And the people who are starting to criticize my vote now, many of them were in Congress at the time and had no problem with that. Now, we might be in the same Democratic Party, but clearly they didn’t have an issue with that open border situation. That is why I voted for Senator Mullin, and I look forward to working with him so that might isolate me with some people in my party, but that’s not country over party.”
Fetterman was asked about voting against the current government shutdown.
“I can’t speak for everyone,” he said. “I have consistently been the only Democrat to vote against this shutdown. It’s wrong. You know you witnessed what happened in Michigan. That individual drove into a synagogue. He showed up to kill 150 toddlers so why would you want to make America more unsecure in the middle of these types of attacks. And if you have seen any of those disaster movies about cyber attacks, well guess what? The cyber security agency is under DHS and that is shut down right now. And now, people if you are also flying, you are going to also see long, long lines, and I am there all the time and I ask all of those TSA agents, ‘Hey, do you like getting paid?’ And they all like getting paid.
“To me that is a violation of our core values as a Democrat to punish union workers going without getting paid.”
The conversation then moved to Fetterman’s support for the war in Iran.
“Democrats agreed with that,” he said. “When Kamala Harris ran for president in 2024, she identified Iran as our top concern. Every single Democrat said, ‘Can’t ever allow them to acquire a nuclear bomb.’ And when someone does that and makes sure that is almost impossible, why can’t we celebrate that? That comes from, the other side did that, and if it comes from Trump, it’s punishing as a Democrat to agree with that thing. And that’s the place, that’s where I live in that place, but I will always follow what I think are the moral clarities. Country over party, but it’s a great thing that Iran has been broken.
“Why am I the only Democrat to say these things?”
Laura Trump then asked Fetterman to further explain his comment about Democrats being led by “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
“It’s gonna change. It’s gonna get worse,” Fetterman said. “Absolutely. When someone asked about who’s the leader, I’m like, ‘Yeah, that’s TDS.’ Increasingly, this party is defined by the opposite of that. I said that in the interview. If the President would come forward for ice cream and lazy Sundays, we’d immediately want to vote it down.
Fetterman on DHS: “We used to be all Democrats, never shut our government down.”
Rosen, who voted to end fall shutdown: “The red line for me is this, as long as we live in a democratic United States of America … we will not have a roving band of thugs that are unaccountable.” pic.twitter.com/2rWtsgJIR1
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) March 22, 2026
“And I don’t understand that space,” he continued. “We used to agree. Stop Iran form getting a nuclear bomb. Finally holding Iran accountable, that’s a good thing. And I know that’s punishing as a Democrat to support that. Clearly, that’s why I’m the only one, but I’m also proud to stand with Israel. That also isolates me. And now watch the kinds of people that are running for Senate as Democrats. They are becoming more and more anti-Israel. What I’ve discovered is you’re not allowed to support Israel as a Democrat but it’s OK if you have a Nazi tattoo on your chest running for the Senate.”