Trump has not had a good relationship with many on the Left. But this man has won his favor.
And now the White House shocked everyone after coming to the defense of this Democrat.
Fetterman Stands Tall Against Couric’s Partisan Grill
In a refreshingly candid clash on Katie Couric’s “Next Question” podcast Thursday, straight-shooting Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) deftly parried the host’s relentless jabs at President Trump and the late Charlie Kirk, earning swift backup from a fired-up White House that called out Couric’s tone-deaf tactics.
Couric leaned in hard, urging Fetterman to condemn Trump and Kirk outright, but the no-nonsense Pennsylvanian refused to buckle, showcasing the kind of cross-aisle principle that’s become his hallmark.
Defending Dignity in Mourning Kirk’s Loss
Couric zeroed in on the Trump administration’s heartfelt tributes—flying Kirk’s body home on Air Force Two and floating a posthumous Medal of Freedom—questioning if they were “over the top” for the conservative trailblazer. Fetterman brushed it off as the White House’s prerogative, then pivoted to Kirk’s inflammatory past, which Couric branded “extreme.”
The senator noted that while he didn’t agree with many of the things Kirk said, it was “entirely appropriate” to allow people to grieve and respect their space without taking “that opportunity to push an argument or to remind people that, ‘Hey, I don’t agree.'”
“A father of young children was shot in public because of his political views, and that’s a tragedy, and give people the space to grieve,” he added.
Fetterman maintained that while he “didn’t agree with much of it,” Kirk’s rhetoric would “never justify what’s happened” and that he chose not to “take the opportunity to argue his views after children lost their father in the most violent, public way.”
After Fetterman added that “extreme rhetoric makes it easier for extreme reactions or to justify them,” Couric countered by saying that some would consider Kirk’s rhetoric to be “extreme.”
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung didn’t mince words, torching Couric on X: “This washed up idiot @katiecouric is an absolute ghoul. She tries to justify the horrific assassination of Charlie Kirk. Disgusting people like Katie should be shamed and embarrassed forever,” Cheung wrote.
Fetterman’s poised push for basic human decency amid tragedy highlighted his growing stature as a voice of reason in a polarized Senate.
Pushing Back on Autocracy Hysteria
The exchange kicked off with the 2024 Butler assassination attempt on Trump, but Couric quickly steered to Fetterman’s earlier stance that the president’s democratic election proves he’s no autocrat. She countered that “history has shown that even leaders who come to power through elections can still govern in anti-democratic ways.”
“So I have to ask when you consider some of Donald Trump’s behaviors and policies, like deploying federal forces to U.S. cities, undermining the Department of Justice’s independence, attempting to overturn the 2020 election. Does that not trouble you deeply?” she asked.
“Of course,” Fetterman replied, adding that he strongly pushed back on Trump’s claim that Pennsylvania was not a “fair and free election.”
“But I think at this point right now, we are not in an autocracy,” he continued. “We’re in a democracy and that’s why they were able to shut our government down. And that doesn’t mean that we appreciate what’s happening.”
Continuing to press Fetterman on Trump, Couric asked if he felt that the policies the president is pushing are “anti-democratic.” She then asked if, even if he doesn’t believe we’re living in an autocracy, he would at least concede that “some of the things that [Trump] is doing are clearly anti-democratic and potentially even unconstitutional.”
As a “committed Democrat,” Fetterman acknowledged that the two have different opinions on whether Trump is an autocrat or not, but he doesn’t “call people fascists or Nazis or compare people to H-tler,” and argued those comparisons are “part of why we lost our election last year.”
Fetterman’s unflinching rejection of overheated rhetoric—while affirming democratic safeguards—aligns with the White House’s steady leadership, proving once again why he’s a standout Democrat unafraid to call balls and strikes.
