Senator John Fetterman defended newly appointed Homeland Security Secretary and former GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin against claims that he lacks the experience necessary to lead the agency. In an interview with NewsNation’s Chris Cuomom, Fetterman argued that experience alone does not ensure success. He referred to the former DHS secretary who served under both President Biden and President Obama, noting that despite having extensive credentials, “the border turned into an absolute disaster.”
“I didn’t know that you thought he was a good fit for the job,” Cuomo said. “Because I’ve never seen anybody in that position with no experience in law enforcement, let alone homeland security.”
“Yeah, well, [former DHS Secretary Alejandro] Mayorkas may have had some experience and the border turned into an absolute disaster,” Sen. Fetterman replied. “And I referred to Noem as their version of Mayorkas, you know, but I do believe he’s committed and we’ve had multiple conversations and his top priority is to secure our border, round up all of the criminals, and they’re not going to have any more things like Minneapolis and that tragedy.”
Okay, hold up. Noem, for her faults, managed to shut down the wide-open border in record time, on President Trump’s orders. So there’s that. Anyway, here’s more from Fetterman.
“And I would point out that to my knowledge, what I’ve reported, there is no ICE presence in Minneapolis anymore right now,” he continued. “So, you know, we have a choice to find someone to work with. And now that’s a choice that I made, and there were multiple Democrats privately, they wanted to work or to vote for him.”
“I certainly felt some blowback from parts of the Democratic Party to vote for him,” he added. “But they just didn’t want the blowback.”
Another point: When your reelection becomes more important than doing the right thing for your constituents and for the country, the system is broken. Again, I digress.
This comes just days after late-night hack host Jimmy Kimmel criticized Mullin for his inexperience and mocked him for previously working as a plumber – an honest living an elitist snob like Kimmel no doubt periodically needs because I can’t picture him fixing anything around his own house.
I disagree with most of Fetterman’s votes, but you can’t argue that he’s not a lone voice of reason in a party that is addled with Trump Derangement Syndrome and other forms of genuine insanity.
A brand new Real Polling in Real Time with Zogby found that Democrats and Republicans are essentially tied months before November’s crucial midterm elections, possibly spelling bad news for the Democratic Party.
The Zogby Strategies survey on the 2026 Generic Congressional Ballot found that Democrats are at 46.3 percent and Republicans are at 45.8 percent.
The significance of the poll shows a sharp drop from the pollster’s previous (February) result, which found Democrats leading by +5 points. It’s essentially a statistical tie within the margin of error.
The poll has sparked discussion on X, formerly Twitter, with users noting it as potentially concerning for Democrats given Zogby’s history of leaning a bit more to the Left.
The poll found:
–Democrats hold decisive double-digit advantages on healthcare (+14), health and wellness (+12), and trust in government amid the Epstein files (+11), and also lead on working-class needs (+8), affordability (+7), middle-class needs (+6), and minimizing AI job loss.
–Republicans lead on crime (+10), immigration (+7), international strength (+3), and keeping the American dream alive (+3).
The Republican National Committee took a key step recently toward holding what would be its first-ever national convention during a midterm election year.
The RNC on Friday approved a change to party rules that would allow Chairman Joe Gruters to convene a convention outside of a presidential election cycle.
National political conventions traditionally take place during presidential election years, when delegates formally nominate the party’s presidential and vice presidential candidates, Fox News reported.
Republicans are seeking to defend control of the Senate and a slim majority in the House in this year’s midterm elections.
President Donald Trump announced in September that the GOP would hold a convention ahead of the midterms to highlight accomplishments since Republicans regained the White House.
The change was adopted Thursday evening by the RNC’s Rules Committee during the party’s winter meeting in Santa Barbara, California.
The full RNC membership approved the rule change unanimously during the general session on Friday.
A memo obtained by Fox News Digital referenced the possibility of an “America First” midterm convention-style gathering aligned with President Trump’s political vision.
Speaking with reporters Friday, Gruters described the potential event as a “Trump-a-palooza” designed to showcase the administration’s accomplishments.
Gruters said the convention would provide an opportunity to highlight policy achievements and energize Republican voters ahead of the midterms.
Despite the announcement, public opinion polling continues to show President Trump with low approval ratings.
Surveys indicate many Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy and issues related to affordability.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin criticized the proposal in a statement to Fox News Digital.
“Trump has historically low approval ratings because he has put America last, sold out working families to hand out favors to billionaires, and made life unaffordable,” Martin said.
The party holding the White House typically faces political headwinds during midterm elections.
Republican leaders hope a high-profile midterm convention would help counter those trends by promoting the president’s record and Republican candidates.
In a separate statement to Fox News Digital, Gruters said the RNC’s winter meeting demonstrated party unity behind Trump.
Gruters said the RNC has focused on expanding fundraising, increasing voter turnout, and protecting ballot integrity ahead of the midterms.
“We’re building the operation needed to protect our majorities and give President Trump a full four-year term with a Republican Congress,” Gruters said.
Details regarding the date and location of the midterm convention have not yet been finalized.
A Republican source told Fox News the convention would likely coincide with the RNC’s summer meeting, which is typically held in August.
Democrats may also consider holding a midterm convention.