Sen. Dave McCormick after the midterms: 'I don't think there's any appetite' for amnesty

Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.), a swing-state Republican, said Wednesday night that he sees no appetite among Republican voters for any kind of immigration amnesty after last week's losses, in an interview on Fox News' "The Ingraham Angle" that was clipped and shared on X by Eric Daugherty.

Asked whether the "midterm thumping" changed that, McCormick said no. "We had a great immigration story," he said, and what frustrated him on the campaign trail was that voters did not understand "how incredibly successful" it had been. In Pennsylvania, he said, fentanyl deaths fell from about 4,000 a year to about 1,500, a 60% decline, "because we secured the borders, went after the cartels and went after these violent criminals."

"I don't think there's any appetite" for amnesty, McCormick said. His bigger worry, he said, is that with Democrats taking the House, and especially if Republicans do not win the White House in 2028, the country could see "a rollback back to the open border policies of Joe Biden," which he called "absolutely devastating to our country, to our security, and our economy."

In the same appearance McCormick backed staying in session through the lame duck to pass Trump's agenda, including a third reconciliation package that needs only 50 Senate votes plus Vice President JD Vance.