Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), who has frequently bucked his party, said he refuses “to engage in the kind of sexist garbage like ‘ICE Barbie’ that the left-wing media loves to throw around,” referring to a nickname some have used for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
Fetterman stands tall:
“I met with Secretary Noem. I’ve always treated her with respect. I refuse, and never will, engage in the kind of sexist garbage like ‘ICE Barbie’ that the left-wing media loves to throw around.”
pic.twitter.com/cFIY5rHboE
— Gunther Eagleman
(@GuntherEagleman) February 12, 2026
Fetterman’s comments came during a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing on Minnesota’s immigration enforcement operations. Despite asserting his respect for Noem and saying, “I met with Secretary Noem. I’ve always treated her with respect,” Fetterman has been critical of her in the past.
In January, after the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti during Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Minnesota Metro Surge Operation, Fetterman joined Democrats in calling for Noem to be fired.
Fetterman has built a reputation for not toeing the Democratic Party line.
He voted with Republicans to fund the government in November, rather than support his party’s shutdown strategy during what became the longest shutdown in U.S. history. He has also publicly disagreed with some Democrats on matters related to Israel and U.S. foreign policy, opposing efforts such as the No War Against Iran Act.
Recently, Fetterman backed the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, which would require voter ID, saying, “It’s not a radical idea for regular Americans to show your ID to vote, and absolutely those things are not Jim Crow or anything.”
TRUMP’S DEPORTATIONS MAY HURT, NOT HELP, GOP’S POLITICAL MATH
He was the sole Senate Democrat to vote in support of Department of Homeland Security funding.
Pennsylvania has long been a politically purple state, with a Democratic governor, one Democratic senator, and one Republican senator.
