Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) praised President Donald Trump and Israel over Operation Epic Fury—described by the White House as a joint U.S. military campaign with partners against Iran—and said he was “baffled” by Democrats who opposed the strikes. The operation’s claimed toll, including the death of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has been widely reported, though detailed casualty breakdowns remain difficult to independently verify.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) publicly defended Operation Epic Fury, a U.S.-named military operation the Trump administration says targeted Iranian nuclear and missile capabilities and other regime assets.
In a Daily Wire report citing Fetterman’s posts on X and a New York Post interview with President Donald Trump, Fetterman responded “Love it” after Trump said the operation was “way ahead of schedule” and claimed “49 killed” among Iran’s leadership “in one day.”
Fetterman also posted that he did not understand why support for the strikes was controversial, writing that he was “baffled” that some lawmakers would not back what he portrayed as decisive action to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. He contrasted what he called “empty sloganeering” with a “commitment to global security.”
As the operation began on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026, Fetterman wrote: “Operation Epic Fury. President Trump has been willing to do what’s right and necessary to produce real peace in the region. God bless the United States, our great military, and Israel,” according to the Daily Wire’s account of his X posts.
The Daily Wire report said that after it was confirmed that Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei—widely known as Ayatollah Ali Khamenei—was among those killed, Fetterman responded: “Let’s see who grieves for that garbage.” Major news organizations, including The Washington Post, have reported that Khamenei was killed on Feb. 28, 2026 during joint U.S.-Israel strikes, citing announcements by Trump and subsequent confirmation broadcast on Iranian state television.
Fetterman also posted that he was “not sure why it’s controversial” to “appreciate and celebrate wiping out 49 leaders” of what he called one of the world’s most evil regimes. Independent, detailed confirmation of Trump’s specific “49 leaders” figure was not established in the Daily Wire report, which attributed the number to Trump’s remarks in the New York Post interview.
Fetterman’s comments underscored growing political divisions over the scope and consequences of the operation, including debate over its legality, its strategic goals, and the reliability of early casualty claims amid a fast-moving conflict.
