Asked about anti-ICE protests, McCormick says ‘dehumanizing language’ is leading to violence

In an interview with Pennsylvania’s two U.S. senators, CBS Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil asked about “extreme rhetoric” in Minneapolis.

“Where is the line,” Dokoupil asked, “between protected demonstrations, civil disobedience ... and impeding ICE, which is breaking the law?”

He did not specifically mention the Jan. 7 fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good by an U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent.

“The moment you start dehumanizing people, the moment you start calling people Hitler, the moment you start doing that, it’s a slippery slope to violence,” Republican U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick said. “So there’s a direct connection between the violent language, the dehumanizing language, and the actual violence.”

The Trump administration has defended Good’s killing as an act of self-defense by ICE agent Jonathan Ross, who shot Good four times as she drove away from him, video of the incident showed.

The Department of Justice has since signaled it will not investigate the shooting; rather, it has launched a probe into Democratic elected officials in Minneapolis.

McCormick said that ICE agents have a responsibility to enforce the law.

“The moment the protesters get in the way of the ICE officials actually enforcing the law ... the moment that it starts to become physical, I think the risk of violence goes up,” he said.

The exchange was part of a wide-ranging interview, billed as a “lesson in bipartisanship” that found McCormick and Democratic U.S. Sen. John Fetterman often agreeing on divisive topics.

“I reject the extreme on both sides right now,” said Fetterman. “It was a tragedy. We all wish that woman was alive. But also, ICE has a job to do as well,” and everyone doesn’t need to agree on their tactics.

Here are other moments that stood out from the 16-minute conversation held at U.S. Steel’s Mon Valley Works in West Mifflin, about 10 miles south of Pittsburgh.

Fetterman and McCormick both rejected the idea, proposed by President Donald Trump, that the U.S. may use military force to acquire Greenland. But both senators supported the idea that it makes sense for the U.S. to increase its presence there.

“It’s also undeniable, that, one, this is not a brand new conversation,” Fetterman said, adding that President Harry Truman and others once tried to buy Greenland. “So it’s not an absurd idea.”

McCormick said he recently met the prime minister of Denmark, “and they are welcoming the United States playing a more active role.” He doesn’t believe the U.S. should use military force, he added, but that “we ought to have a strategic foothold.”

The Justice Department, led by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, recently subpoenaed Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, head of the independent body that determines U.S. monetary policy. The inquiry is looking into Powell’s comments related to renovations to Federal Reserve buildings. Powell has said the probe was opened because Trump was angry that Powell wouldn’t cut interest rates when the president wanted him to.

McCormick defended Trump’s right to criticize Powell, and said Powell should have raised rates faster and lowered them sooner. However, he emphasized Powell’s “mandate” to control federal interest rates.

“The fed has to be independent,” McCormick said. “It’s absolutely critical for our financial system.” He added that he doesn’t believe Powell is “involved in any criminal activity.”

Both of Pennsylvania’s U.S. senators support legislation to rein in social media companies, which have faced broad criticism for negatively impacting children and teens.

“If there’s a friend who’s spending four or five hours a day with your kid, you really want to know who that friend is,” Fetterman said, “and that is social media right now, and it can be incredibly poisonous.”

Fetterman won his 2022 Senate race against Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz after relentlessly trolling his opponent on social media, but he said he’s seen the negative impact social media has had on his own family.

Fetterman said Congress isn’t doing enough — and he’d like to see a social media ban for children similar to what Australia recently implemented.

Fetterman said he and Republican U.S. Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama are pushing the “Stop The Scroll Act," which would create a mental health warning label for social media platforms.

McCormick’s wife, Dina Powell McCormick, recently became president and CEO of Meta, Facebook’s parent company. But McCormick said he agrees that Congress needs to do more. He wants to eliminate social media for children under 14, make social media platform data available to researchers, and ban phones in schools that are funded by the federal government.

Despite public skepticism over AI data centers and their potential impact on energy prices, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro has been a vocal supporter of companies building the centers in the state.

McCormick said Pennsylvania is the U.S.’ second-largest energy exporter, making the commonwealth “uniquely positioned to be the AI energy leader.”

“But, yes, as we develop this huge infrastructure, we need to make sure that consumers aren’t stuck with raising energy increases,” McCormick added.

The two senators also spoke about energy and healthcare costs, the steel industry, and other topics. The full interview can be viewed here: