# John Fetterman really needs to resign **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 4, 2025, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-fetterman-really-needs-to-resign/1017875 "2025-05-04T22:13:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2025, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-fetterman-really-needs-to-resign/1017875/203 "2025-07-11T19:48:10Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > > [@Aeschines](#): > > > > which is a distortion of the Democratic position and plays into the “open borders” smear > > You keep saying this. Are you making the claim that there _aren’t_ Democrats, both supporters and politicians, who say we need to abolish ICE? > > Assuming that you admit that there _are_ people with this position, and seeing as you keep saying that it’s a MAGA smear to imply that democrats _do_ support that position, _what is wrong with a Democrat stating that this is not his position_? I think part of the disconnect here is that, yes, there are a few people on the left who are calling for the abolition of ICE. But it comes across (to me, anyway) as Fetterman - and you, in your defense of his statement - thinking that that’s the _official_ position of the Democratic Party, and not just the opinion of the fringe, and fringe-adjacent. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2025, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-fetterman-really-needs-to-resign/1017875/204 "2025-07-11T20:28:12Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > He knows. He’s making it explicit that he knows. He knows that he’s saying things that further the Republican agenda and defends what ICE is doing. He’s _happy_ to do it. Yeah, jezus, there’s no defending this fucker. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2025, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-fetterman-really-needs-to-resign/1017875/205 "2025-07-11T20:56:41Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I mean, has he come out with any statements critical of what’s ICE doing right now? I’m only casually following the controversy around this guy, and of course, trying to Google anything about his past statements on ICE mostly brings up hits related to his most recent statement. _Has_ he made any public comments criticizing the behavior of ICE since Trump’s re-election? Yes, it was quoted above. He doesn’t think ICE should be going after random immigrants _at all_, much less going about it brutally. > [@Aeschines](#): > > OK, this is getting frustrating. This whole thread is about Fetterman saying and doing dumb fucking shit. That’s the context. No, this whole thread is about Fetterman doing and saying normal liberal Democrat things and getting skewered for it by people who are much further Left than the party as a whole and who are mad that Fetterman isn’t following their lead. > [@Aeschines](#): > > You seem to want to ignore the context, an important part of which is his saying MAGA-adjacent shit that’s bad enough to make us worry whether he is going to switch sides completely. I’m not _ignoring_ it, I’m _disputing that ridiculous interpretation_. > [@Aeschines](#): > > Because of this context, Fetterman’s comments are viewed through a different lens at this point. If you choose to ignore this context, you are arguing on a disingenuous basis, in my opinion. You’re accusing Fetterman of saying right wing shit, and then when I point out that actually what Fetterman said was totally reasonable for a mainstream Democrat, you counter by saying that I’m ignoring the context of Fetterman saying a bunch of right wing shit lately. _You haven’t actually established that_. > [@Atamasama](#): > > He is fully supporting it. **FULLY SUPPORTING IT.** There is no defense for this unless you too are supporting what ICE is doing. > > I’m looking at you @Babale. I hope that’s not what you’re doing here. I don’t think you support what ICE is doing based on your other comments. Here’s another Fetterman tweet. It’s pretty ridiculous to try and paint him as “fully supportive” of Trump’s mass deportation agenda. Why would you do that? > [@Babale](#): > > “Absolutely support amnesty for the hardworking, otherwise law-abiding migrant workers. Round up and deport the criminals. We must acknowledge the critical contribution migrants make to our nation’s economy,” > [@Superdude](#): > > I think part of the disconnect here is that, yes, there are a few people on the left who are calling for the abolition of ICE. But it comes across (to me, anyway) as Fetterman - and you, in your defense of his statement - thinking that that’s the _official_ position of the Democratic Party, and not just the opinion of the fringe, and fringe-adjacent. I’ve addressed this multiple times above, so it’s pretty ridiculous that you’d pretend I am taking the position that mainstream Democrats support abolishing ICE. It is _precisely because_ most Democrats don’t support this policy that Fetterman said what he said. If we don’t support abolishing ICE - and I certainly don’t - what is with this weird policing of _saying_ that we do not support abolishing ICE? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2025, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-fetterman-really-needs-to-resign/1017875/206 "2025-07-11T21:01:06Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > Yes, it was quoted above. He doesn’t think ICE should be going after random immigrants _at all_, much less going about it brutally. Can you repost it? I’m not sure which quote you mean. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2025, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-fetterman-really-needs-to-resign/1017875/207 "2025-07-11T21:04:13Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > Here’s another Fetterman tweet. It’s pretty ridiculous to try and paint him as “fully supportive” of Trump’s mass deportation agenda. Why would you do that? _Because it’s part of Trump’s agenda._ This is from today: [Axios: MAGA on “amnesty watch” as Trump weighs migrant worker protections](https://www.axios.com/2025/07/10/trump-amnesty-illegal-immigration-workers) > “What we’re doing is getting rid of criminals. But we are doing a work program,” Trump said at a Cabinet meeting this week. So no, that tweet you keep bringing up means nothing when compared to Fetterman’s **openly-admitted** corroboration with MAGA talking points. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2025, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-fetterman-really-needs-to-resign/1017875/208 "2025-07-11T21:09:13Z")
Fetterman tweeted that ICE shouldn’t be going after “otherwise law-abiding migrant workers”. But that’s just a really small part of what’s wrong with ICE at present. What’s wrong with ICE at present is their _fascist behavior_ – hiding their identities, refusing to follow the law, refusing to show legal basis for their violent actions, roughing people up for no good reason, etc. I’ve seen no evidence Fetterman disapproves of this. Without that, it’s entirely reasonable to presume he’s okay with it. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2025, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-fetterman-really-needs-to-resign/1017875/209 "2025-07-11T21:22:42Z")
OK, I didn’t know you disagreed with _the spirit of the entire thread._ If I missed earlier posts in which you expressed that, my bad. (I’ve read the whole thing, and I think I would have noticed that…) Anyhow, yeah, we totally disagree on everything about Fetterman, I guess. What annoys me is how you don’t seem to understand, or are perhaps refusing to admit that you understand, how Fetterman’s words and actions to date have rankled Liberals. I think it makes for a much better debate when one at least recognizes where one’s opponents have been coming from. A lot of this back and forth about ICE has thus been totally fucking pointless. > [@Babale](#): > > No, this whole thread is about Fetterman doing and saying normal liberal Democrat things and getting skewered for it by people who are much further Left than the party as a whole and who are mad that Fetterman isn’t following their lead. Bullshit. He’s a loose cannon who’s said a bunch of RWNJ-adjacent shit and been called out for it by a bunch of people of varying degrees of Leftness. I myself am a somewhat left-of-center Liberal, hardly far left, and I think he’s a self-indulgent jackass who likes this kind of attention. > [@](#): > > I’m not _ignoring_ it, I’m _disputing that ridiculous interpretation_. Okay, I guess the thinking of most everyone in this thread is just ridiculous except for you. Maybe just come out and say that instead of arguing a specific point to death. > [@](#): > > You’re accusing Fetterman of saying right wing shit, and then when I point out that actually what Fetterman said was totally reasonable for a mainstream Democrat, you counter by saying that I’m ignoring the context of Fetterman saying a bunch of right wing shit lately. _You haven’t actually established that_. The whole thread establishes that, lol. What Fetterman said about ICE is, as I have explained, not what a mainstream Democrat would say. Certainly _not_ in the manner that he said it. Evidence: no mainstream Democrat has said anything close to that! Quote someone if you can. > [@](#): > > It is _precisely because_ most Democrats don’t support this policy that Fetterman said what he said. Bullshit. It’s left-baiting RW trolling. If you can’t see it or refuse to see it, then that’s your issue. > [@](#): > > If we don’t support abolishing ICE - and I certainly don’t - what is with this weird policing of _saying_ that we do not support abolishing ICE? This is sophistry again. Not a single other Liberal in this thread (that I know of) thinks ICE is just peachy and fine as is. _That’s the important thing._ That shit needs some serious unfucking. Border control is also necessary. If ICE is abolished and something else is put in its place, then I’m fine with that. Focusing on the word “abolish” is pointless and, in essence, you are committing the logical fallacy of equivocation on purpose; hence, engaging in sophistry. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2025, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-fetterman-really-needs-to-resign/1017875/210 "2025-07-11T21:24:19Z")
Well said. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2025, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-fetterman-really-needs-to-resign/1017875/211 "2025-07-11T21:25:17Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > What Fetterman said about ICE is, as I have explained, not what a mainstream Democrat would say. Certainly _not_ in the manner that he said it. Evidence: no mainstream Democrat has said anything close to that! Quote someone if you can. Not to mention, Trump praised his comments, and Fetterman is quoted as saying that his Fox News-watching parents would be pleased by that. He knows exactly what he’s doing. He has abandoned the Democratic platform. I’m not sure what he’s trying to do; if he’s getting out of politics with a bang, trying to switch sides, I just don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2025, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-fetterman-really-needs-to-resign/1017875/212 "2025-07-11T21:27:20Z")
If we need to use a cork board and red yarn to clarify what a Fetterman means, it’s a good sign that he’s not fit to be a politician. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2025, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-fetterman-really-needs-to-resign/1017875/213 "2025-07-11T21:28:17Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Not to mention, Trump praised his comments, and Fetterman is quoted as saying that his Fox News-watching parents would be pleased by that. Exactly. What “mainstream Democrat” is doing this?! > [@](#): > > He knows exactly what he’s doing. He has abandoned the Democratic platform. I’m not sure what he’s trying to do; if he’s getting out of politics with a bang, trying to switch sides, I just don’t know. He’s on a Trumpian ego trip for sure (similarly with cognitive issues clouding his judgment, it seems), but yeah, also like Trump, exactly what he is trying to accomplish is unclear. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2025, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-fetterman-really-needs-to-resign/1017875/214 "2025-07-11T21:29:36Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > (similarly with cognitive issues clouding his judgment, it seems) I will defend Fetterman in saying that at least he has been open about his medical issues. He didn’t pay a doctor to write a puff piece about how he is the healthiest man he ever saw or anything (at least not as far as I know). ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2025, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-fetterman-really-needs-to-resign/1017875/215 "2025-07-11T21:30:06Z")
^That is true. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2025, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-fetterman-really-needs-to-resign/1017875/216 "2025-07-11T21:30:59Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > Not a single other Liberal in this thread (that I know of) thinks ICE is just peachy and fine as is. You accuse me of sophistry and then drop this turd? 🙄 for the zillionth time: ICE is not “peachy and fine as is”, it’s an absolute fucking disgrace to this country. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2025, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-fetterman-really-needs-to-resign/1017875/217 "2025-07-11T21:34:17Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > You accuse me of sophistry and then drop this turd? 🙄 for the zillionth time: ICE is not “peachy and fine as is”, it’s an absolute fucking disgrace to this country. I guess you think that your points in this thread are not confusing and that they represent a coherent viewpoint of some sort. I would say they are the opposite of that. If you think ICE is a disgrace, that’s great, but I think and I think most people here think that, but no one else is making the very difficult-to-understand arguments that you are. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2025, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-fetterman-really-needs-to-resign/1017875/218 "2025-07-11T21:34:36Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > ICE is not “peachy and fine as is”, it’s an absolute fucking disgrace to this country. Maybe we should defund it then?! ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2025, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-fetterman-really-needs-to-resign/1017875/219 "2025-07-11T21:35:00Z")
^LMFAO. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2025, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-fetterman-really-needs-to-resign/1017875/220 "2025-07-11T21:38:18Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > Maybe we should defund it then?! We should absolutely cut the big funding increase it just got in Trump’s bill back to around where it was, and give it new management. We shouldn’t get rid of it altogether, though (or if we do, it would be to restore the basically identical NIS). I wouldn’t call that “defund”. I was brought around by the “Defund actually means reform” arguments when it came to defund the police, but in hindsight, I think that was pretty stupid. If you want reform, say reform. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2025, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-fetterman-really-needs-to-resign/1017875/221 "2025-07-11T21:40:37Z")
I can’t imagine why Fetterman weighed in with a tweet on this at all. Did anyone ask him for his views? Does he think it’s going to help his future plans (whatever they may be)? I miss the days before tweets. If something was important, a politician issued a press release. A senator can also speak on the floor of the Senate, at committee hearings, and issue a statement when they vote for or against something. Wouldn’t they be happier without twitter? ---
**Author:** ![DeadTreasSecretaries](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deadtreassecretaries/32/4817_2.png) [@DeadTreasSecretaries](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadTreasSecretaries)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2025, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-fetterman-really-needs-to-resign/1017875/222 "2025-07-12T00:31:13Z")
I mean tweeting random crap no one asked for is something basically all politicians do at this point. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-fetterman-really-needs-to-resign/1017875.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-fetterman-really-needs-to-resign/1017875.md?page=12)