With Iran’s political infrastructure appearing to teeter after at least 500 protestors were reported killed this weekend, President Donald Trump announced this week that he is considering preliminary plans for U.S. military involvement against the ruling regime.
U.S. Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) responded: “I fully supported our strike on Iranian nuclear facilities last year. Build on this momentum if further kinetic actions are necessary. These brave protesters deserve our full support to break this brutal regime.”
I fully supported our strike on Iranian nuclear facilities last year.
Build on this momentum if further kinetic actions are necessary.
These brave protesters deserve our full support to break this brutal regime. pic.twitter.com/Ge4gGogeqP
— U.S. Senator John Fetterman (@SenFettermanPA) January 11, 2026
As seen below on CNN, Iraq War veteran and U.S. Congressman Pat Ryan (D-NY) said Fetterman’s comment made his blood pressure go through the roof and it “pissed me off.”
Ryan noted that “the regime in Iran is evil” and he believes the U.S. should support the protestors trying to rise against the government. But Ryan condemned the idea of the U.S. engaging in “another regime change war in the Middle East.” (The last regime change efforts by the U.S. in the region saw U.S forces bogged down in Iraq for almost a decade, costing more than $1 trillion by some estimates.)
[Ryan’s cautions sound against a background of recent American regime change actions in Venezuela, where the U.S. military captured President Nicolas Maduro without congressional approval and brought him to New York for prosecution.]
Damn right it pissed me off. Unlike the Senator, I’ve actually seen combat in the Middle East.
It’s really easy to sit at home in a hoodie and casually suggest starting a war.
It’s a lot harder to do the work required to actually bring peace. https://t.co/gF69nvCJtb
— Pat Ryan
(@PatRyanUC) January 12, 2026
Ryan said of Fetterman, who is known for wearing hoodie sweatshirts at the Capitol: “Unlike the Senator, I’ve actually seen combat in the Middle East. It’s really easy to sit at home in a hoodie and casually suggest starting a war. It’s a lot harder to do the work required to actually bring peace.”