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John Federman, thank you for joining us
00:00:01
here on the All-In podcast for this
00:00:03
All-In interview. Very excited to have
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you here today. I know you're in the
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middle of voting today. Sounds like the
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Save America Act might be starting its
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debate on the floor. Is that correct?
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>> I don't know. Like what what I've heard
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recently that they don't have the votes,
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but we will find. But I I don't have any
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special insight. I mean, it's it's going
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to be very close. I don't think it would
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if they do hit it, I don't see it more
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beyond 51, but I I'm not I'm not really
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sure. It's a shame that they didn't make
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it more about just ID to vote. They they
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turned it into other things that they
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turned it into kind of a Christmas tree
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and they're hanging all these things on
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it. But no, that's that's where we are.
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But we'll know uh and having someone
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follow that too. I just he's going to
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let me know in fact cuz I'm really
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interested to see how it goes because if
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they do then that's going to turn into a
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really uh a spectacle about what a a
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talking filibuster is.
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>> Yeah. Well, let's see what happens. I
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mean, it's a pretty
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>> dramatic week ahead. Let me just start I
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want to zoom out a little bit and talk
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about how you make policy decisions. And
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I want to just start with party. You ran
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as a progressive in 2016, lost. You beat
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Dr. draws in 22 and now you have a 72%
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approval rating from Pennsylvania
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Republicans and only 22% from Democrats.
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Are you a Republican or are you a
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Democrat uh senator? And kind of what's
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the way that you think about your party
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affiliation? Well, I actually I think
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the the more realistic the the realistic
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numbers was like earlier in the morning
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console and that put me at basically
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50/50 with Dems and I was I was in the
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the 60s for with Republicans without a
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doubt without a doubt that that I am
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more popular with with Republicans and I
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I'm mystified by that. I mean I'm
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honored to to have support from any
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Pennian. But what I will say that um you
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know I've just going to follow what I
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think is the moral clarity and now in my
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very first race back in 2015 over a
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decade ago uh what used to be a
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progressive is definitely not what a
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progressive started to turn into and
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what it be became. And and even in my my
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race in 2122 I was announcing I am no
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longer I I'm just a Democrat. I'm not a
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progressive. And now there's been that
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evolution away from like those core
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principles that really weren't weren't
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controversial. And and now I've isolated
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myself by following and standing and
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proud to be un unapologetically
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supporting Israel. And now if you've
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seen that that poll came out yesterday
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that the standing and the Democratic
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party continues to deteriorate. I've put
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that out on my social media and I said I
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don't follow I don't care about the
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polls. You know, there's a moral clarity
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here and that should be where the rest
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of us should should be. Uh and now it's
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been really easy for me to to lean in on
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it. And that I created the only Democrat
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that's very supportive about Epic Fury.
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And I'm also the only Democrat that
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refuses to shut down the Department of
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Homeland Security. Yes, as a Democrat,
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we'd like to make some some reforms on
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ICE, but what I'm unwilling to do is
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shut it down. And after that horrific
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that attack in Michigan where where he
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was looking to kill 150 toddlers, you
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know, and now there's more and more
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kinds of these these events. Why would
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you vote to shut our government down?
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And the cyber security agency, you know,
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that must be incredible for the Chinese
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and the Iranians that that we've shut
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that uh government down. So that's that,
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you know, I my core values haven't
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changed. If anything's changed, that's
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been kind of the core what what's
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required to be a Democrat. and I'm going
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to follow what I think is true. What is
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the country over party? Whether that's
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the right side of history.
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>> What do you think the Democratic Party
00:04:26
used to stand for? What does it stand
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for today? And what do you think it
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should stand for?
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>> I I I honestly I I I don't know. But
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what I will say, as I would refer to to
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your listeners, is like
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listen to what the people that are
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running for the Senate as Democrats.
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watch what they're saying and doing. And
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that's becoming more and more
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anti-Israel,
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uh, openingly hostile to to Israel. And
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now, uh, that becomes part of the lit
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litmus purity test to I'm not going to
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take any of their money. Uh, I'm going
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to denounce
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that. And I was the only Democrat.
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That's absolutely Netanyahu just done
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the right thing to to break the that
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access
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uh there Hezbollah and Hamas and now
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attacking also Houthus as well. So I
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mean so do you know where what Democrats
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stand for? see who's running for the
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Senate. And now Planter look the the
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Nazi tattoo guy uh you know on top of
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being a an avowed communist and now said
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incredibly offensive things about women
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and sexual assault um and now refers to
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rural people is stupid and racist and
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know so and now is that what Democrats
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want? I guess we'll see that. But, you
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know, you see in all these different
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things also in Michigan, too. A guy that
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really, as far I know, has refused to
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condemn Hamas. And he led the, you know,
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no uh the the no uh what was the no
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committed. It's like, forget what that
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that stupid thing was called, but it was
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like you, you know, no vote, no vote for
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uncommitted. Uncommitt. Yeah.
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Uncommitted. But, you know, we're not
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going to vote for Camala Harris. and and
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now they helped deliver um Trump for
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Michigan. So that's like look who's
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running and look who's being
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competitive. So that that's you want to
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know where Democrats are, look in those
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kinds of races.
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>> You know, it's interesting. We used to
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have the ability to agree on some things
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and disagree on other things. It seems
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nowadays whatever the other side is
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doing or saying, you have to take the
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opposing view. And in many cases, it
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seems like that might force folks to
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kind of contort into these weird
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positions that don't even make logical
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sense. Why did we get to this point?
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What happened that everything had to be
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polar? There was never the ability for
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us to there's no longer the ability for
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us to agree on some things while
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disagreeing on other things. What caused
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this change in this country? And can we
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get back from it?
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>> I I don't know. Like part of my party's
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become so inflexible. what what I've
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discovered that, you know, you are not
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allowed to be a proud unapologetic
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standing uh with Israel, but it's it's
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okay. Uh it's not a big deal if you have
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a Nazi tattoo on your chest and you have
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people and now in my party now who are
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trying to normalize that or to excuse
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that. I mean, like it's that that's
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that's that's kind of where we are. And
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and now I know what's toxic as a
00:07:41
Democrat to disagree with, but for me
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those are, I think, our core values. You
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know, the kinds of values in Israel
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kinds of the core value that we've
00:07:52
always used to say, never ever shut our
00:07:54
government down. That's always wrong.
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You're going to punish uh union members.
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You're going to punish, you know,
00:07:59
everyday Americans. Now, here we're
00:08:01
doing those same things. Uh, and now I
00:08:04
think our border for example, I think
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secure our border, deport all the
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criminals, but now never ever have the
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kind of tragedies like we had in
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Minneapolis. That's not what anyone
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really voted for any of them supports.
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So, you know, if I'm more popular with
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Republicans, I don't really know. But,
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uh, but I also I treat everyone with
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respect and I don't refer to Republicans
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or members of MAGA. They're not Nazis.
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They're not fascists. They're not trying
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to destroy our country. Uh, no. I know
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and I love many, many people that that
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voted for or support uh, President
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Trump. I'm going to treat anybody with
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respect. I don't attack me members of
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their families. I don't use and and
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those kinds of attacks. We have to find
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a better way forward and and that's what
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I've been maintaining.
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>> Who do you think leads the Democratic
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party today?
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Oh, we don't we don't have one. I I I
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think I think the the TDS that I think
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that's the leader right now. You know,
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right now our our party is is governed
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by the TDS. And now it's made it
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virtually impossible without being
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punished as a Democrat to agree
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something's good or I agree with the
00:09:23
other side. And I I would define that by
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epic fury. I am the literally the only
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Democrat in America uh in Congress that
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I've come across that's saying I think
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it's a great thing to break and destroy
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the Iranian regime. I think it's
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entirely appropriate to hold them
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accountable. And what's strange to me
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that every single Democrat that's run
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for president uh and anyone that I know
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in Congress says we must never allow
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them to acquire a nuclear bomb. When
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that happens, why not celebrate that or
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acknowledge that? I have only witnessed
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just criticism and this kinds of uh this
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kinds of attack like yeah you don't have
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to agree on every single thing but when
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a good thing happens just because it
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comes from the different party um that
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that tells me that you're choosing the
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demand of the the base or the party over
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country or what what's really I think
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appropriate in that circumstances. Now I
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I would say now you know to any country
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any country do you consume oil? Yes of
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course we do. Well then that makes it
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your problem too. That makes you part of
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your responsibility. I don't know why
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you know like Israel and and our nation
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did the heavy leaving excuse me uh the
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the heavy uh the heavy work to to to
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destroy the Iranian military apparatus.
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you know, now why not? Wouldn't you not,
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you know, help us to reopen uh the
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straits because you consume oil. You all
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could be
00:11:05
the ability uh to why not participate
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that that's that's strange to me. Uh so
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I think everyone why can't you get
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behind the only ones that aren't are
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China and Russia. Those are the same
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kinds of especially in Europe, you know
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what they're doing to Ukraine for over
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four years and we all know what the
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goals of China is as well. So to say
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it's not our war, it's like yeah well
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it's our cause and if you consume oil
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and you all do, you know, that
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effectively makes us all part of this
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responsibility,
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>> right? Do you think uh there's a clear
00:11:45
path to getting out of Iran for the
00:11:47
United States at this stage? How do you
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view this exit happening? It seems like
00:11:51
the president to some degree is
00:11:53
declaring victory, but on the other
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hand, there seems to be continued
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activity and and push forward here.
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What's our exit path?
00:12:02
>> I I I don't know. But what I will say,
00:12:05
what's undeniably been happen now? Uh
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first, why aren't all of the media
00:12:11
outlets demanding proof of life for from
00:12:13
the Ayatollah?
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You know, ever since that first strike
00:12:18
back in last month, not a peep, not a
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peep out of him. I mean, the the
00:12:22
Iranians are doing kind of like weakened
00:12:25
at Italas,
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you know, like they're just trying to
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pretend this guy is functional in any in
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any way. And you know just today today
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you know they just they just eliminated
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you know who was effectively the the de
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facto leader you know I think that's
00:12:41
fantastic. Keep doing it for that. So
00:12:45
and without a doubt they have no
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capabilities at this point otherwise
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than to to fire off a a drone at
00:12:54
civilians at civilians. The Iranians
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have never done anything other than just
00:12:58
attacking civilians. Abs. Absolutely.
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That's a fact. You know, they can't
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engage in traditional kinds of of
00:13:06
combat. So those cowards, what they do
00:13:09
is fire drones to create chaos. You
00:13:12
know, they've been effectively neutered
00:13:14
and that's a wonderful thing. And that's
00:13:16
also effectively broken the the proxies
00:13:20
and that's also made the world
00:13:21
undeniably more secure. So, and this is
00:13:25
not this is not an uh I mean this war is
00:13:29
only three weeks into it. This whatever
00:13:32
you want to call it, whatever the
00:13:33
semantics, it's three weeks. This is not
00:13:36
like a Ukraine in war, you know, this is
00:13:38
three weeks. It it's not, you know, neat
00:13:42
and it's not absolutely quick to to
00:13:46
demand the entire Iranian apparatus for
00:13:50
the thing. holding them accountable is
00:13:52
entirely appropriate. And every single
00:13:56
president since the last 40ome years
00:13:59
wanted to do something about Iran.
00:14:01
Finally, that's happened. It's a good
00:14:03
thing. And now
00:14:05
>> to your point about the strait and uh
00:14:08
America looking for assistance to
00:14:09
support the activities uh the the
00:14:11
commercial oil activities through the
00:14:13
strait, NATO allies have largely said
00:14:16
no. Do you think that we're looking at
00:14:18
the end of the NATO alliance? What does
00:14:21
this speak to for the future of both
00:14:24
America's leadership with the in the
00:14:26
West and this alliance that has kind of
00:14:29
created a great power center that's
00:14:31
created balance in the world? I mean, is
00:14:33
NATO at risk? I'm proud to be an
00:14:35
American and and I believe, you know, we
00:14:37
are a force of good in the world and I
00:14:41
don't truly don't understand why they
00:14:43
don't want to join us to to reopen the
00:14:46
straits. But if you consume oil, that
00:14:49
makes it part of your your problem and
00:14:52
that makes you a part of your
00:14:54
responsibility to join us. So we've done
00:14:57
the hard work at this point and the
00:15:00
horror of 107 was borne by the Israelis
00:15:04
too. Now they've done the appropriate
00:15:06
thing to to destroy the proxies and to
00:15:10
hold them fully accountable and why the
00:15:13
world can't rally around this to just do
00:15:17
that. Now I do believe we will be
00:15:19
successful with or without their help
00:15:21
but remind people it's been 3 weeks and
00:15:24
now for a nation that's 90 million that
00:15:27
used to be this fearsome force of
00:15:29
military in the entire region just been
00:15:32
pulverized into irrelevance other than
00:15:35
just creating kinds of chaos firing a
00:15:38
drone there and now they can't they
00:15:41
can't even in fight with with honor you
00:15:43
know they they attack civilians they've
00:15:46
massacred their own, you know, there
00:15:49
there would be more uprising because
00:15:52
they're terrified because they've had to
00:15:53
witness as they've killed up to 35,000
00:15:56
of them uh last time. So, they've been
00:16:00
held accountable
00:16:02
as an American, hold them accountable
00:16:05
and that's a good thing.
00:16:07
>> Yeah. I think the question a lot of
00:16:09
people are asking again is what does
00:16:10
success look like? What's it defined as?
00:16:13
How do we get out of this? And when do
00:16:14
we walk away? And that uncertainty, I
00:16:17
think, is what has a lot of folks
00:16:18
saying, I don't know if this is going to
00:16:21
become another Iraq war or Afghanistan
00:16:24
type situation. That's what makes folks
00:16:27
absolutely absurd. This is not a nation
00:16:30
building thing. This is a destroying a
00:16:33
terrible regime. Disarmament.
00:16:36
Disarmament. You know, like if you live
00:16:39
in Europe, remember what you Yeah. Like
00:16:41
if you would have disarmed the the
00:16:43
German Nazi re regime before it it
00:16:46
really started. I mean like have you
00:16:49
forgot the lessons of history when you
00:16:52
have a regime that is committed to
00:16:55
destroying you know the nations in the
00:17:00
region and now like why is it wrong to
00:17:02
hold them accountable? And now
00:17:05
>> critics
00:17:07
>> critics critics are attacking well it
00:17:10
costs us a billion dollars. It's like
00:17:12
well you know not stopping Iran would be
00:17:14
a hell of a lot more expensive in lives
00:17:17
and economic impact. Uh so that's that's
00:17:21
the thing you know clearly if you even
00:17:24
consider of the lessons from history of
00:17:26
disarming a dangerous toxic regime the
00:17:30
way they've done that. Why can't you be
00:17:33
open to really participate but at least
00:17:37
not just acknowledge that the world's
00:17:39
made safer as a result?
00:17:42
>> There's a lot of criticism from both
00:17:43
sides of the aisle that perhaps the
00:17:45
United States, President Trump were
00:17:47
unduly influenced by Netanyahu and by
00:17:51
the Israeli lobbyists in the United
00:17:53
States. You know, maybe you can address
00:17:55
that point. You've taken money from
00:17:57
Apac. I know that you've kind of been
00:17:59
that's been brought up before, but how
00:18:00
do you react to the argument that many
00:18:02
are making that Israel has undue
00:18:04
influence on our politics and our um our
00:18:07
kind of uh global actions?
00:18:09
>> Well, that that plays into the to the
00:18:12
anti-semitism and the tropes and it's
00:18:14
like pulling all the strings and they're
00:18:17
behind. It's just that's just part of
00:18:20
the grow. It's become more and more
00:18:22
acceptable as a Democrat to say these
00:18:24
things, you know, and it's like like
00:18:28
Tucker Carlson and and Fuentes and these
00:18:31
these people, you know, like no one
00:18:34
claims them. No one claims them, you
00:18:36
know. I promise you, no one at least I
00:18:39
sit around wondering what those are the
00:18:41
kind of vids and their opinions on
00:18:42
Israel or anything at that point. Same
00:18:46
parts of my party as well too. Now, if
00:18:49
you if you want to normalize that a Nazi
00:18:51
tattoo is kind of like a one-off, it's
00:18:53
no not a big deal. Or if you think
00:18:56
Israel engaged in a genocide, you know,
00:18:59
that how ignorant that is to the
00:19:01
actually what defines a genocide is is
00:19:05
um the exact opposite. They were in a
00:19:08
just war, you know, and I remember where
00:19:11
it started and remember what Hamas
00:19:13
continued to do. send everybody home and
00:19:16
there they would be the end of this. So,
00:19:19
so that's that's part of this and now
00:19:23
how anti-semitism out of control out of
00:19:26
control, you know, on our college
00:19:28
campuses and as well in in the world,
00:19:32
even in S San Jose, you know, a a a Jew
00:19:35
was beaten just having dinner. You know,
00:19:38
you have people driving crashing into
00:19:41
synagogue kind of like tree of life. But
00:19:44
thankfully he was immediately killed by
00:19:46
the security. They had security because
00:19:48
they had to provide those because they
00:19:50
knew that's always an everpresent kinds
00:19:53
of risk there. Thank God. Thank God what
00:19:57
that could have made uh possible without
00:19:59
them. So that's that's where we are. And
00:20:02
I don't listen to parts of whether it's
00:20:05
my party or the extreme. And they're
00:20:06
right. You know, I never turn to someone
00:20:09
like Tucker Carlson for wisdom or their
00:20:12
views on on this or anything, you know,
00:20:14
honestly.
00:20:16
>> Well, so let's talk about another
00:20:17
controversial topic which we just hit on
00:20:19
for a moment at the start of the show,
00:20:20
which is the Save Act. 83% of Americans
00:20:23
support voter ID for elections. The
00:20:26
Senate scheduled to take up the Save Act
00:20:28
supposedly or potentially this week. Uh
00:20:31
you've said you don't support the Save
00:20:32
Act in its current form. What do you
00:20:34
think needs to be changed? Do you
00:20:36
generally agree with the idea of using
00:20:38
voter ID for elections?
00:20:40
>> Well, the Republicans have never had any
00:20:43
uh outreach or to engage. You know, they
00:20:45
never said, "Hey, how can we rework it?"
00:20:48
You know, what can we we offer, you
00:20:49
know, and know make it, you know, real
00:20:52
ID real ID to vote. Keep it simple, you
00:20:56
know. So, like, yeah, why not? Why not?
00:21:00
You know, like it's like that that that
00:21:02
would I I am not outraged by providing
00:21:06
ID to vote. 71% of Democrats are okay
00:21:09
with that. 83 of Americans are okay with
00:21:12
it. Make it that then. Yeah. And I'm I'm
00:21:15
interested to really to have that
00:21:17
conversation. Another thing that they
00:21:19
continue to do, they try to smear uh
00:21:23
voting uh voting by mail. That's
00:21:26
absolutely safe. And the red states in
00:21:29
America like Florida, Ohio and others,
00:21:33
they rely on it. The more rural a state
00:21:36
is, the they really use that too. So
00:21:39
they've made it this uh Christmas uh
00:21:42
tree of hanging all these these kinds of
00:21:45
boutique and other issues. Now if you
00:21:47
are serious and like hey
00:21:50
ID to vote, you know, you might bring
00:21:52
some actual Democrats on that. I'm not,
00:21:56
you know, ah, I refuse the kind of
00:21:58
extreme rhetoric about it's not Jim
00:22:01
Crow. It is not trying to suppress
00:22:04
Americans from voting. It's making it
00:22:07
perhaps more secure um and have a
00:22:10
serious conversation. And that's why I,
00:22:12
you know, said I'm unwilling uh to
00:22:14
support it in its current current form.
00:22:18
>> And do you think there has been election
00:22:20
fraud and to what extent?
00:22:23
Uh well I mean in my experience as
00:22:25
lieutenant governor uh in 2020 there was
00:22:28
a lot of allegation that there was that
00:22:31
and not one single remind people roughly
00:22:34
57 out of Pennsylvania 67 counties are
00:22:38
all deep deep red not one single one
00:22:41
there was no fraud. There was no fraud.
00:22:44
And now they we identified I think
00:22:47
believe it was six six or seven in fact
00:22:49
and now coincidentally they all happened
00:22:52
to be Republicans that were voting for
00:22:54
President Trump and mostly they used a
00:22:56
dead relative to try to to to vote that
00:22:58
and they were caught. So voter fraud in
00:23:01
Pennsylvania it is absolutely secure. I
00:23:03
can absolutely you know I've witnessed
00:23:05
that. And now in Pennsylvania the
00:23:07
Republicans drove that train of of
00:23:11
voting by mail. That was their ID. That
00:23:13
was what they demanded. And in return,
00:23:16
we dropped the straight party voting by
00:23:19
just push a button to vote straight down
00:23:21
the entire ticket ticket uh voting. And
00:23:24
now they had to turn their views because
00:23:27
at that time the president decided that
00:23:29
that's a terrible thing. So I mean, you
00:23:32
know, two things must be true. It's not
00:23:34
outrageous to show ID to vote, but
00:23:37
voting by mail is an honorable, safe,
00:23:39
and secure way that Republicans across
00:23:42
our nation have been doing it and doing
00:23:44
it some in the most secure ways as
00:23:47
examples.
00:23:48
>> Do you think there's non-citizen voting
00:23:50
going on? One of the arguments that's
00:23:52
made is that the Democrats opened the
00:23:53
border, brought in a lot of
00:23:55
non-citizens, gave them access to vote
00:23:58
in some way, either mailing ballots
00:24:00
without showing proof of citizenship or
00:24:02
whatnot. And that really boosted
00:24:04
Democrat votes across blue states. Is
00:24:06
that fair or is that unfounded and just
00:24:09
>> that's that's a great that's a great
00:24:11
point and I am concerned about that you
00:24:13
know hey is there an issue? So I just
00:24:15
ran this uh that is the heritage the
00:24:19
heritage found. Yeah, Heritage Heritage
00:24:22
Foundation, you know, they said that at
00:24:25
their database between 1999 to 2023,
00:24:29
they identified 77 instances of
00:24:32
non-citizens voting between 1999 and
00:24:35
2023. That's the Heritage Foundation,
00:24:38
you know, that's the, you know, there.
00:24:39
So, so for me, that that would identify
00:24:41
that it doesn't seem that, you know, the
00:24:44
Heritage Heritage Foundation doesn't
00:24:46
claim that 70 that there's more than 77.
00:24:49
So that's why I'm saying if you're
00:24:50
really serious and you want to have
00:24:51
that, let's make it about ID, not all
00:24:54
these other kinds of parts that this
00:24:56
that uh it dilutes the core mission of
00:25:00
like showing ID or making it more
00:25:03
secure.
00:25:04
>> So why have Democrats been so opposed
00:25:06
not just to this act but generally to
00:25:08
the idea of showing ID for voting? Many
00:25:11
of the interviews and arguments that
00:25:12
have been made by Democrat politicians
00:25:14
in media have brought in ideas that well
00:25:18
not everyone has access to an idea.
00:25:20
>> I am not one of those Democrat. I am not
00:25:21
one of those Democrats that they say
00:25:23
that that's terrible. That's evil.
00:25:25
>> Why are they saying that? Because if
00:25:26
it's such a an obvious common sense uh
00:25:29
action, 83% of voters support it. Why
00:25:32
are so many in the party and this is
00:25:33
where a lot of people have conspiracy
00:25:35
theories that they're using it to
00:25:36
harvest votes and and so on. Why are
00:25:39
they opposing it? what is actually going
00:25:40
on.
00:25:41
>> I I I I I can't speak for them, but what
00:25:45
I'm saying is like I refuse to I'll
00:25:47
never tell 83% of Americans that it's
00:25:50
awful and terrible to show ID to vote,
00:25:53
>> you know. Yeah.
00:25:54
>> And I'm say I've said that publicly
00:25:56
again and again and again. 71% of
00:25:59
Democrats have no problem with it. And
00:26:01
you want to know what really backed that
00:26:02
up? Wisconsin. In April of 2025, they
00:26:08
had a ballot initiative to show ID to
00:26:11
vote that passed nearly 2 to1. They also
00:26:16
elected one of the most liberal members
00:26:19
of now the Supreme Court in that same
00:26:21
election. It's not controversial to vest
00:26:24
majority of Americans. I'm never going
00:26:27
to be in the business to tell 80 some
00:26:30
percent of Americans that you're you're
00:26:32
Jim Crow or you're trying to suppress
00:26:34
votes. Fair enough. Uh well, let's come
00:26:37
back to the DHS point you made earlier.
00:26:39
You were one of the uh you were the only
00:26:41
Democrat actually to vote to fund DHS,
00:26:44
but you did say that agents in Minnesota
00:26:47
lost the plot. What's your red line on
00:26:50
immigration enforcement? So, what should
00:26:53
ICE be doing and what should ICE not be
00:26:55
doing?
00:26:57
>> There should never be a red line. Never
00:27:00
shut the government down. Just don't do
00:27:03
that. We used to be the party that
00:27:05
refuse to do those things. We were
00:27:08
outraged, outraged when Tuberville was
00:27:12
jamming up some of the military uh
00:27:15
promotions. Freak out. Freak out. you
00:27:18
know, but now here we're sh we shut the
00:27:20
whole damn government down. I was one of
00:27:23
only two Democrats to push back on that
00:27:26
last year and now I'm on the only one.
00:27:28
If it's wrong for them, then it should
00:27:30
be wrong for us as as well too.
00:27:32
>> But just to focus on ICE, I mean, ICE's
00:27:35
actions in Minnesota, where do you think
00:27:37
ICE should be doing immigration
00:27:38
enforcement and how versus what do you
00:27:41
think they shouldn't have been doing?
00:27:42
Yeah, I for me, you know, hey, I was I
00:27:46
was the Democratic lead on Lake and
00:27:48
Riley bill because that was a serious
00:27:51
bill. They, you know, Katie Brit called
00:27:54
me up and saying, "Hey, what do you
00:27:55
think?" And I'm like, "Yeah, 100%."
00:27:57
Yeah, let's let's work together on it.
00:27:59
That that's a serious that's a serious e
00:28:01
effort. Uh, and now I led that and
00:28:05
enough Democrats broke closure on that.
00:28:07
That's why it's a law in America right
00:28:09
now. You know, I'd like to think that my
00:28:12
credentials on border security as a
00:28:14
Democrat is platinum, you know, uh, and
00:28:17
I even I voted for Gnome, one of the few
00:28:19
Democrats that her I met with her,
00:28:21
treated her with respect, you know,
00:28:23
refused to use the kind of sexist and
00:28:26
gross terms like ice Barbie and those
00:28:29
kinds of thing. Refused to do that. She
00:28:31
absolutely lost the plot. I called for
00:28:34
her to resign. She became a mayorcus. I
00:28:37
was a Democrat calling out that Morcus
00:28:39
was a disaster without a doubt. You
00:28:41
know, we cannot this is unsustainable
00:28:43
and this is uh damaging our nation and
00:28:46
making it impossible to deliver an
00:28:48
American dream for any migrants at that
00:28:50
point.
00:28:51
>> Do you think that ISIS's mandate should
00:28:53
be to remove every illegal immigrant
00:28:56
from this country or do you think that
00:28:58
they should be going after just one
00:29:00
group and leave others and we have to
00:29:02
legislate? What's the right way for ICE
00:29:04
to operate? No, you know, you have the
00:29:07
vast majority of Americans secure our
00:29:10
border. They've done that without a
00:29:12
doubt. And deport every criminal.
00:29:16
They're they gun. And now, you know,
00:29:20
Pennsylvania, that's our top industry is
00:29:23
is farming, agriculture,
00:29:26
and constantly that's their issue.
00:29:29
Labor, labor, labor. It's it's really
00:29:31
problematic. you know, targeting
00:29:34
otherwise lawful migrants. I don't think
00:29:37
that's what America really wants and
00:29:39
honestly that's not what America needs.
00:29:41
You know, you know, we they are an
00:29:43
important part of our economy and
00:29:46
finding a better way to address that.
00:29:48
I'm Hey, I'm here for that conversation.
00:29:50
My wife was a dreamer. You know, I I
00:29:53
would love to work with the other side.
00:29:55
You know, I shouldn't punish a 2year-old
00:29:58
that was brought here. had no idea uh at
00:30:01
that age, you know. So, I think they've
00:30:04
made, you know, important contributions
00:30:07
to our nation. I'm a I'm a pro-democrat
00:30:10
uh I'm excuse me, I'm a pro-immigration
00:30:11
Democrat, but I'm the also the only
00:30:13
Democrat to view shut our government
00:30:15
down the way that's where we're at. And,
00:30:18
you know, I'm becoming the only very
00:30:21
proud supporter of Israel. And I'm the
00:30:23
only Democrat that's saying destroying a
00:30:26
regime, you know, that like Iran is a
00:30:28
good thing.
00:30:30
>> So,
00:30:31
>> do you think that that creates a bad
00:30:32
incentive with the what people call
00:30:34
anchor babies where an immigrant comes
00:30:36
to the United States, has a baby, and
00:30:37
then stays and the baby has citizenship?
00:30:40
That seems to be one of the the the kind
00:30:42
of big debate points right now.
00:30:45
Well, I mean, for for me, I I I what
00:30:48
what I will say is is like if you secure
00:30:50
a border, that makes those kinds of
00:30:53
things more and more difficult or
00:30:55
unlikely to to happen. Now, I you know,
00:30:58
back in 2023, you saw the numbers,
00:31:02
300,000 people showing up at the border.
00:31:05
You know, that's the side of Pittsburgh.
00:31:07
I describe that in terms of
00:31:09
Pennsylvania. That the size of
00:31:11
Pittsburgh is showing up at the border.
00:31:13
That's unsustainable. You know, we have
00:31:15
to do something about it. You know,
00:31:16
Mayor Arcus had to go. He's been a
00:31:18
liability. That's why I described Gnome
00:31:21
and I called her to to go.
00:31:23
>> What was why did why did President Biden
00:31:25
open the border? What was the
00:31:27
motivation? What have you Democratic?
00:31:29
>> I'll tell you that the truth is I was
00:31:31
shocked when when they dropped uh
00:31:34
Article 42, you know, in my primary.
00:31:37
It's like we all ran on that. That
00:31:38
wasn't controversial. I was stunned when
00:31:41
they dropped that and you could see
00:31:43
this, you know, right up after that.
00:31:46
>> Was it to reduce labor cost or to bring
00:31:48
in Democratic voters or what was the
00:31:50
motivation do you think from the party?
00:31:52
And you must speak to party leadership
00:31:54
that tells you why they're justified or
00:31:56
were justified for doing that when they
00:31:58
did it.
00:32:00
>> I I don't know, but I was I was alarmed
00:32:02
and I was honest. It's like, you know,
00:32:05
for me, like for any politician, if you
00:32:08
are telling the people their eyes that
00:32:10
you're crazy, you're not right, you
00:32:12
lose, you know, and we were punished. We
00:32:14
were punished in 24. The border was a
00:32:17
serious serious failure as as Democrats.
00:32:20
So, it's like holding us accountable.
00:32:24
And now, that's part of responsibility
00:32:25
to learn from from that situation. now.
00:32:29
And I do hope and I do hope the
00:32:30
Republicans learn from Minneapolis
00:32:33
doesn't help anybody that that doesn't,
00:32:35
you know, doesn't help your cause, you
00:32:37
know, and it and people that absolutely
00:32:41
uh the optics, whether that's the optics
00:32:44
or the kinds of tactics, any of that,
00:32:46
you're not winning anybody over.
00:32:48
>> Right. So, I want to switch gears to my
00:32:51
favorite topic, which is the the fiscal
00:32:53
condition of the United States
00:32:55
government. We have $40 trillion of debt
00:32:58
and we're going to have a $2 trillion
00:32:59
deficit this year. A trillion dollars of
00:33:01
that is just interest on the existing
00:33:04
debt. That number is getting bigger and
00:33:05
bigger every year and a bunch of
00:33:06
programs are going to run out of money
00:33:08
including social security which is
00:33:09
projected to run out of money sometime
00:33:11
between call it five and 10 years from
00:33:13
now. This is a classic debt death spiral
00:33:16
problem. You know what is how much does
00:33:19
Congress pay attention to this problem?
00:33:21
Is it something that's talked about?
00:33:22
Because a lot of the conversations seem
00:33:24
to be about what the polls say so that
00:33:26
people can get elected again the next
00:33:28
cycle versus looking at this big looming
00:33:31
debt problem we're facing and how we're
00:33:33
going to address it.
00:33:35
>> Yeah, debt's a huge concern for me. I
00:33:37
mean, you know, I'm I'm old enough to
00:33:40
remember when a billion dollars meant
00:33:41
something or that was a lot of money and
00:33:43
now the trillions are becoming more
00:33:45
kinds of it's not kind of like social
00:33:49
security. Social Security, for example,
00:33:51
now they just need to make some small
00:33:53
small adjustments for actual on the
00:33:56
actuarial kinds of things and that could
00:33:58
extend it well into the 20 uh the 2070s
00:34:03
to the 2080s. Just small small kinds of
00:34:06
things that would require real
00:34:08
leadership and that would require them
00:34:10
to just put down the partisan guns and
00:34:12
just stop attacking each other and find
00:34:14
a real solution for all of Americans.
00:34:16
And now you'll never address debt until
00:34:19
you both sides agree. We're gonna stop
00:34:23
tearing each other apart. We're gonna
00:34:24
find a way forward. You know, I hope I
00:34:27
hope more Americans want my views of why
00:34:31
just turn it into just uh uh
00:34:34
professional wrestling or do you really
00:34:36
want to find a better way? And you know,
00:34:39
it's like uh effectively if you turn
00:34:42
Washington DC as the Jerry Springer
00:34:45
show, you know, you asked me earlier
00:34:48
what's the leader of the Democratic
00:34:49
party right now, I would say it's TDS.
00:34:52
That that is that's driving the
00:34:54
conversation. If he supports, you know,
00:34:58
he could come out for ice cream and lazy
00:35:01
Sundays and now suddenly Democrats would
00:35:02
hate it, we would want to vote it down.
00:35:05
>> Yeah. Well, there's there's also a lot
00:35:07
of discussion right now about fraud in
00:35:08
the government. I don't know if you've
00:35:10
seen these videos out of Minnesota and
00:35:11
this guy Nick Shirley doing them out of
00:35:13
California.
00:35:14
>> Yeah, let me say that. Let me say that.
00:35:16
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like, absolutely.
00:35:18
Like, why can't you celebrate any
00:35:20
journalist or any, you know, activist
00:35:23
doing that? And what he, you know, uh,
00:35:26
Governor Nuome put out a disgusting
00:35:28
video implying that he's, you know, a
00:35:31
pedophile or he's that that like why,
00:35:35
you know, like I mean, like that's like
00:35:36
kind of a smear, you know, like you can
00:35:39
you may you want to disagree or but but
00:35:42
to imply that someone someone in one of
00:35:44
the most gross kinds of terms like that,
00:35:48
well, it's like, hey, shouldn't we agree
00:35:51
like you know, eliminate all the waste.
00:35:54
If it exists under under my perfume,
00:35:57
let's eliminate it. Let's call that what
00:35:59
it is. You know, I'm not going to call
00:36:01
someone or imply that you're you're a
00:36:04
pedophile or you're, you know, going
00:36:06
after kids in the gross ways.
00:36:09
>> But what's crazy to me and so many other
00:36:11
people that have seen these videos is to
00:36:13
then see reactions from leaders in the
00:36:15
Democratic party saying, "We don't have
00:36:17
a problem. This is racist. This is
00:36:19
whatever." And denouncing the reports of
00:36:21
this. But but when you see this fraud,
00:36:24
it angers everyone. You're spending
00:36:25
money as a taxpayer and then you're
00:36:27
giving the money away to fraudsters.
00:36:29
It's
00:36:29
>> It should. It should. It should. Yeah,
00:36:30
it should. It should. You should be
00:36:32
angry. And you know, like fraud can
00:36:36
happen on both sides, but when it's
00:36:38
identified, I don't care if it's in a
00:36:40
Democratic state, like we should all
00:36:42
just acknowledge maybe there is a
00:36:44
problem here. This is part of the thing.
00:36:46
If you tell v voters that you're wrong
00:36:48
or you know, hey, it's no problem.
00:36:50
there's nothing here then you lose and
00:36:52
know that you you want to turn that into
00:36:55
if you want to turn that into um like
00:36:57
the border you know with Democrats as in
00:36:59
2023 you know we do that at our own
00:37:01
peril
00:37:03
>> you're you're so rightly critical of so
00:37:05
many of these points John why are you
00:37:08
still a Democrat
00:37:08
>> it passed yeah so save just passed my
00:37:12
staffer just handed to me 51
00:37:16
>> Wow they went forward huh
00:37:18
>> yeah it's going That's going forward to
00:37:21
debate. Yeah. Yeah. It goes to debate.
00:37:24
>> Yeah. And so what do you think will
00:37:26
happen there? Will this last a couple
00:37:28
days, a week? I mean, how's this process
00:37:30
going to go?
00:37:31
>> I I have no idea. I I I am not going to
00:37:35
pretend to know exactly how the next
00:37:36
couple days are going to look.
00:37:38
>> The question I asked just before that
00:37:39
was, you know, you're rightly critical
00:37:41
of so many of these positions that the
00:37:43
Democratic Party leadership takes. Why
00:37:45
are you still a Democrat? Have you
00:37:46
thought about switching parties?
00:37:48
because I am a Democrat and it's not
00:37:51
because I've changed. It's because
00:37:53
because you know parts of my party has
00:37:55
changed right now and that's that's
00:37:59
where I'm at. I'm going to continue to
00:38:02
be an independent voice. I'm going to
00:38:04
call balls and strikes. I'm always going
00:38:06
to pick country over uh part of my base
00:38:13
or what they demand.
00:38:16
One of the one of the clear rising
00:38:18
themes right now in this country going
00:38:19
into the midterms and probably going
00:38:21
into 28 for the presidential election
00:38:23
cycle is the massive wealth inequality
00:38:26
in this country. Do you think we have
00:38:28
massive wealth inequality and is it you
00:38:30
know can you identify the origin? Where
00:38:32
is this coming from?
00:38:34
>> I I don't I don't really know. Uh but I
00:38:37
I don't hate billionaires. I don't make
00:38:40
them the problem. Now that with
00:38:42
Democrats, we love billionaires if we're
00:38:44
supporting our we're supporting our
00:38:46
causes or there's they're underwriting,
00:38:49
you know, things that are near and dear
00:38:50
to us. In fact, we actually have a a
00:38:53
billionaire as a Democratic governor,
00:38:55
you know, that doesn't mean he's an
00:38:56
oligarch and trying to destroy America,
00:38:59
you know. So, like, it's about trying to
00:39:01
be more honest and stop attacking each
00:39:03
other and find what we can agree on.
00:39:06
now, but we live in the kinds of
00:39:08
attention economy and just, you know,
00:39:12
saying outlandish thing and making, you
00:39:15
know, crazy statements, you know, yeah,
00:39:17
that drives the clicks, but that's not
00:39:19
governments. That's not
00:39:21
>> Well, it's it's on the ballot now in
00:39:23
California to pass a wealth tax and it
00:39:26
starts as a one-time 5% tax for
00:39:28
billionaires, but it gives the
00:39:30
legislature in California the ability to
00:39:32
lower the threshold and make it every
00:39:34
year if they wanted to. and change the
00:39:36
percentage. Ro and Bernie Sanders have
00:39:39
talked about passing a national wealth
00:39:40
tax. Do you think we are going to find
00:39:42
ourselves in that conversation in 2028
00:39:44
and we're going to have a national
00:39:45
wealth tax where eventually, just like
00:39:47
we started with a 1% income tax,
00:39:50
eventually everyone will pay a
00:39:51
significant percentage of their net
00:39:52
worth every year to support government
00:39:55
services?
00:39:57
I mean, uh,
00:40:00
Senator Sanders has never represented
00:40:03
more than a very small, you know, state,
00:40:06
you know, like win a competitive state.
00:40:11
Uh, so you have your own ideas and, you
00:40:14
know, like we'll see what really is
00:40:16
required to to to
00:40:19
win, you know.
00:40:21
>> Yeah. Yeah. Well, so let me ask. He's
00:40:23
also recently called for a moratorium on
00:40:25
building AI data centers. I work in
00:40:27
Silicon Valley as do my
00:40:30
>> China China loves it. China loves it.
00:40:32
>> China loves it.
00:40:33
>> Yeah. Let's hand hand hand AI that race
00:40:37
over to the Chinese.
00:40:38
>> Why do you think leaders in the party
00:40:40
are supporting this idea? It's so
00:40:41
obvious what's going to happen if we do
00:40:43
this. But um you know, do you think AI
00:40:46
is going to increase wealth disparity in
00:40:48
this country? win a real, you know,
00:40:51
competitive election, win one, then you
00:40:54
can lecture me or you can tell me, hey,
00:40:57
what's the right direction?
00:40:59
Otherwise, you know, like it's it's like
00:41:03
they are the they are the part of the
00:41:04
party that's so hyperritical, you know,
00:41:06
and those kinds of excesses like defund
00:41:09
the police and and uh abolish ICE and
00:41:14
these outlandish kind of thing, you
00:41:16
know, they're the same part of the party
00:41:18
now that loves the dude with the Nazi
00:41:20
tattoo on his chest,
00:41:21
>> right? And then I I just want to cover
00:41:23
agriculture real quick. I've heard
00:41:25
reports that the vast majority of US
00:41:27
farms lost money. you're on the Senate
00:41:28
ad committee, which is why I'm asking
00:41:29
this, and this is becoming, I think, a
00:41:31
big national issue that the majority of
00:41:33
US farmers lost money last year if not
00:41:36
for the federal government providing
00:41:37
support payments, crop insurance, and
00:41:40
would have been one-time bailouts. Do
00:41:42
you think we have a path to fixing
00:41:43
agriculture in this country? And how do
00:41:44
we get farmers back on track where they
00:41:46
can earn a living without requiring
00:41:48
checks from the government?
00:41:50
>> Farming is such a hard job. I absolutely
00:41:54
revere American farms, especially in
00:41:56
Pennsylvania ones. Their job, you know,
00:42:00
quite literally feeds us. I fully
00:42:03
support all of their efforts. You know,
00:42:05
I was deeply troubled by many many of
00:42:07
those tariffs. And also the ones that I
00:42:11
talked to, labor, labor, labor has made
00:42:13
that very, very difficult. I you know we
00:42:16
should celebrate and support farmers
00:42:19
because I know because I've visited
00:42:21
enough farms to see how hard
00:42:23
backbreaking labor it is to just deliver
00:42:27
food to your table. So that's part
00:42:31
that's part of it and that's kind of
00:42:33
connected to things. Thankfully, we have
00:42:36
the kinds of abundance in our nation for
00:42:38
our food and now why um that's why uh
00:42:44
that's part of the immigration
00:42:45
conversation. That's part of the tariffs
00:42:47
and that wherever like that. So, so the
00:42:50
kinds of things that are hurting a lot
00:42:52
of the people that are just almost
00:42:54
forming uh uniformly
00:42:57
red parts of of my state.
00:43:00
>> Yeah. And and and just to wrap up, I
00:43:02
mean, you you've said you want to save
00:43:04
the Democratic party and not abandon it,
00:43:06
which you know, you repeated here today.
00:43:08
You're a Democrat, but you know, with
00:43:10
only 22% approval rating among
00:43:12
Pennsylvania Democrats, I mean, how do
00:43:14
you carry this forward? And,
00:43:17
you know, what's the way to kind of
00:43:19
bring this party out of the doldrums, if
00:43:22
you will, that there's a lack of
00:43:23
leadership and a lack of moral clarity,
00:43:25
as you call it? Well, as as I said
00:43:28
earlier, there was there was there was a
00:43:31
poll out that was con was current to
00:43:33
that and it has me around 5050. You
00:43:36
know, that that's more accurate. So, I'm
00:43:39
not worried about 28. You know, we have
00:43:42
Iran, we have a lot of other things
00:43:45
right now. So like I'm just I'm not I'm
00:43:48
not uh you know the parlor games about
00:43:51
something you know like I've never felt
00:43:54
better of just voting my conscience
00:43:56
voting country over party and just
00:44:00
following the moral clarities and really
00:44:02
really important kinds of of of things
00:44:06
like destroying Iran, securing Israel
00:44:09
and standing uh with uh the Jewish
00:44:12
community and Israel after everything
00:44:14
that they've been through and how close
00:44:17
how much more optimism of of real peace.
00:44:23
You know, yes, that's there's a lot of
00:44:25
warfare now, but then I think that's a
00:44:27
path for for more enduring peace.
00:44:29
>> There's been a lot of genuine
00:44:30
speculation that you might run for
00:44:32
president in 28. Is that on the table?
00:44:35
>> I'm I uh you know, it's like about 28.
00:44:39
You know, I I don't know what what what
00:44:42
America wants or the direction. You
00:44:44
know, I'm following what I've just said.
00:44:46
That's the moral clarities and
00:44:48
>> Well, thanks for speaking your voice.
00:44:50
Uh, Senator John Fedman, I appreciate
00:44:52
you being with us on All In today.
00:44:54
>> This has been great.
00:44:55
>> Thank you. I I love conversations
00:44:58
uh with anyone's that's just a real
00:45:00
conversation.
00:45:01
>> Yeah.
00:45:02
>> Calling people names and saying
00:45:03
outlandish thing um that doesn't make
00:45:06
anyone
00:45:08
um I don't know like I refuse to engage
00:45:10
it. So, thanks.
00:45:12
>> It's it's it's a breath of fresh air,
00:45:13
honestly. and I really appreciate it.
00:45:15
Thank you, John.
00:45:22
I'm going all in.
