U.S. Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) is being criticized for defending his decision to vote against two resolutions proposed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) that would have prevented the sale of $295 million in bulldozers, and the sale of $151.8 million in (12,000 1,000-lb.) bombs, to Israel. Both resolutions failed to pass.
Sanders said in a statement on Wednesday: “Americans, whether they are Democrats, Republicans or independents, want to see our tax money invested in improving lives here at home – not used to kill innocent women and children in the Middle East and put American troops in harm’s way as part of Netanyahu’s illegal wars of expansion.”
As seen below, on CNN, Fetterman was asked to elaborate on his accusation that members of the Democratic Party are “cheering for Iran.”
The Senator was asked to name names to back his claim and reveal who in his party is cheering.
HUNT: Just to come back to something you said, who in your party do you believe is ‘cheering for Iran’?
FETTERMAN: It’s like, you are, you are making it seem like America is not the force of good in the world. Criticizing America. Criticizing Israel. pic.twitter.com/ZGTCkOBNAS
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 17, 2026
Fetterman, who has caused recent concern about his ability to articulate, replied, “It’s like, you are, you are making it seem like, that, America is not the force of good in the world. Criticizing America. Criticizing Israel. You know, you have Iran, what they’ve done. You know the kinds of outrage, you know, with Iranians massacring tens and tens of thousands of Iranians just recently for that. Now if you’re going to continue to vote against our military, if you’re proud to vote against defensive kinds of systems like Iron Dome for Israel, you can continue to vote down something that you know is going to fail. You know, that must actually, absolutely excite Iran to see, you know, the way many people, you know, the Democratic Party, you know, doesn’t back the attempts to try to break and destroy the Iranian regime to acquire a nuclear bomb.”
Fetterman’s comments are being met with opposition on social media on many levels. Commenters on X accused Fetterman of “spewing MAGA talking points,” and for telling Americans they’re not allowed to criticize their own government.
He also faced criticism for his claim that Americans who don’t want to fund the war are therefore “supporting Iran.”
[NOTE: Fetterman was one of seven Democratic Senators to vote with the Republicans. Joining Fetterman were Richard Blumenthal (CT), Chris Coons (DE), Catherine Cortez Masto (NV), Jacky Rosen (NV), Kirsten Gillibrand (NY), and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (NY).]