Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) on Wednesday again acted the part of a Democratic rebel with a video appearance praising his Pennsylvania colleague, Sen. David McCormick (R-PA), at the Republican Party’s unprecedented midterm convention.
Fetterman espoused a bipartisan spirit, promising to work with President Donald Trump in video remarks introducing McCormick as a speaker at the Texas convention. Fetterman praised McCormick for “fighting” for America’s steel industry, marking the Democratic senator’s latest move to break with his party as he distances himself from socialists who hold growing sway over the establishment.
“Yes, I’m a Democrat,” Fetterman told attendees at the two-day Dallas event, which commenced Wednesday. “Why am I here talking to you today? Because, well, I’m a commonsense Democrat. I’m always going to stand with America. I’m always going to reject the extremes in socialism and that anti-American way of life.”
“Dave McCormick is the kind of senator that gets the job done, and he’s going to fight for Pennsylvania. I’m proud to count him as my friend. Right back over my shoulder. That’s the iconic U.S. Steel mill, and that’s exactly the kind of thing that will work together, and we’ll work with President Trump to fight and defend the steel way of life right here in the Steel Valley,” he continued. “I have this opportunity to introduce this great American, a great senator, and yes, he’s in a different party, but I’m proud to count him as my great friend.”
The development comes as Fetterman has been speculated to be a likely candidate to leave the Democratic Party and join the Republicans, given his distaste for anti-Israel voices, socialists, and some figures widely viewed as antisemitic, such as Hasan Piker, who have attached themselves to his home party.
Earlier this year, Fetterman said that if “our party ever becomes, and just makes it official, the anti-Israel party, that’s when I would leave because that’s been a moral clarity for me.” But in a later interview with the New York Times at the end of July, Fetterman said he would “never” leave his party.
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At the time, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said he wanted Fetterman to remain a Democrat, though Pennsylvania constituents have voiced rising opposition to the senator.
“The people in our caucus very much like him and respect him,” Schumer said, noting Fetterman’s backing of most Democratic initiatives. “And we’re a big-tent party; we can have a lot of different views in that party.”