Fetterman Slams Dems ‘Jim Crow 2.0’ Voter ID Lies As GOP Pushes SAVE Act
Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. John Fetterman is once again distancing himself from his party’s hardline leadership—this time on one of the most consequential issues facing the republic: election integrity.
While Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and nearly every Senate Democrat have lined up against the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, Fetterman signaled this week that he does not view voter identification requirements as extreme or oppressive. The SAVE Act, which cleared the House earlier this week, aims to strengthen election safeguards by requiring proof of U.S. citizenship to register for federal elections and mandating photo ID to cast a ballot.
Schumer has dismissed the legislation as “Jim Crow 2.0,” accusing Republicans of attempting to suppress votes rather than protect the ballot box. But Fetterman rejected that characterization outright.
“I would never refer to the SAVE Act as like Jim Crow 2.0 or some kind of mass conspiracy. But that’s part of the debate that we were having here in the Senate right now. And I don’t call people names or imply that it’s something gross about the terrible history of Jim Crow,” Fetterman told Fox News’ Kayleigh McEnany.
His comments represent a notable break from the Democratic Party’s increasingly rigid messaging on voting laws. Though Fetterman stopped short of endorsing the bill in full, he acknowledged what most Americans already recognize as common sense.
“84% of Americans have no problem with presenting IDs to vote,” he said.
“So it’s not like a radical idea,” Fetterman added. “It’s not something — and there already are many states that show basic IDs. So that’s where we are in the Senate.”
Indeed, voter ID laws are already standard practice in many states, and polling consistently shows bipartisan support. A 2025 Quantus Insights survey found that 74 percent of Americans—including 61 percent of Democrats—favor requiring photo identification at the polls.
GOP Pushes Forward Despite Senate Roadblocks
Even with Fetterman’s rhetorical shift, the SAVE Act faces steep odds in the Senate. Republicans have secured support from key members, including Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, bringing the total to 50 GOP senators backing the measure. But under the Senate’s current 60-vote filibuster threshold, Democrats can effectively block the bill without bipartisan support.
That procedural obstacle has prompted discussion among Republicans about reviving the so-called “standing filibuster,” which would require senators to physically hold the floor to block legislation rather than rely on today’s “silent” filibuster.
President Donald J. Trump, now serving his second term in the White House, has forcefully urged Senate Republicans to take action. Writing on Truth Social, Trump warned of the stakes involved.
“America’s elections are rigged, stolen, and a laughingstock all over the world,” Trump wrote on Truth Social last week. “We are either going to fix them, or we won’t have a country any longer.”
Trump has consistently argued that requiring documentary proof of citizenship—such as a birth certificate or passport—to register for federal elections is not voter suppression but a fundamental safeguard of national sovereignty.
“Elections should be simple, secure, and transparent,” he said recently. “That vision doesn’t threaten democracy—it protects it.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune confirmed that Republicans are evaluating procedural options but cautioned that altering Senate rules would consume valuable floor time and delay other legislative priorities, including agriculture policy, artificial intelligence oversight, and infrastructure measures.
Fetterman also connected the debate over election security with border enforcement—another area where Democratic messaging has fractured in the face of mounting public concern.
He emphasized the need to keep the Department of Homeland Security operational and focused on deporting criminal illegal immigrants.
“Hopefully we don’t have to pay the TSA people and everyone securing our border and focus on deporting those kinds of criminals wherever they are,” he said. “I never want to vote to shut our government down again.”
Though Fetterman reiterated that he does not formally support the SAVE Act, his admission that voter ID laws are reasonable marks a cultural shift within a party that has long portrayed such measures as inherently discriminatory.
For Republicans—and for President Trump—the issue remains clear: restoring trust in American elections requires transparency, citizenship verification, and uniform standards that apply equally to all voters.
Whether the Senate chooses to act may determine not only the fate of the SAVE Act, but the trajectory of election reform for years to come.