Democratic Sen. John Fetterman questioned why his fellow Democrats believe that a secure border and support for immigration are contradictory.
“I honestly don’t understand why it’s controversial to say we need a secure border,” Fetterman told CNN, posted on Fox News.
“I’ve been very clear. In fact, that was weaponized against me as Republicans in my race that I’m very much strong a supporter of immigration and my wife’s family,” he said.
“And I think two things can be true at the same time: You can be very supportive of immigration, but we also need to have a secure border,” he said.
“And I really — I think about immigration is, we want to provide the American dream for any migrant, but it seems very difficult when you have 300,000 people showing up, encountered at our border to do that,” he said.
“And I think we need to do a reset, and we have to work together and develop a new comprehensive solution to that,” he said.
During the interview, Fetterman was asked about criticism he has received from progressives.
“I honestly don’t understand. I don’t understand why it’s controversial to anybody to decide that you’re going to stand with Israel in this situation,” he said.
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NEW: Senator John Fetterman once again defies his own party, asks why it’s controversial to want a secure border.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) January 22, 2024
Answer: Because your party thinks it’s “racist.”
“I honestly don't understand why it's controversial to say we need a secure border.”
“The thing about immigration… pic.twitter.com/WM67ZfBxgt
The Democrat also said he disagreed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who opposed a two-state solution once the fighting in Gaza ends.
“I do believe that that doesn’t change the fact that Israel is our special ally. And we had that kind of relationship,” he said, according to CNN.
Fetterman, a once self-described progressive, recently told the New York Post, “It’s not so much that I left the title, the title left me.”
“Increasingly, [progressives] moved and migrated into some positions that I don’t agree with, and I really just feel much more comfortable just being a Democrat,” he said.
During the interview, Fetterman reiterated his stance on the border and Israel.
“There is a crisis,” he said.
“We have a crisis at our border, and it can’t be controversial that we should have a secure border.”
He added that Israel “is most reflective of the kinds of open, progressive, liberal policies, and it’s a strange paradox where the most progressive members of our party seem to not recognize that Israel is a nation that supports those values.”
Fetterman said the Oct. 7 massacre by terrorist group Hamas signaled a turning point for him.
“I get emotional thinking about it. What if that was my children?” he asked.
“What if that was my wife? Where does that kind of evil come from? I don’t know where the next bottom is … Those kinds of atrocities must never be allowed to survive and endure. It has to be destroyed,” he said.
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