EXCLUSIVE — Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) attended an exclusive retreat with executives from Fox News, traveling to Montana in July at the invitation of the network’s owners.
The event, hosted at the Murdoch family ranch the weekend of July 11, featured a panel on social media that Fetterman headlined with Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL), one of his closest GOP colleagues in the Senate. Two sources and Fetterman himself confirmed his attendance at the retreat.
“I was invited to go there,” Fetterman told the Washington Examiner in a brief hallway interview on Tuesday, adding that he’s willing to talk to anyone interested in “having conversations in a straight way.”
The trip to Montana, which has not been previously reported, is the latest sign of Fetterman’s friendliness with right-leaning media. He has become a fixture on Fox News and feuded earlier this year with MS Now over its apparent refusal to book him as a guest.
Politically, Fetterman’s appearance is likely to stoke further speculation about his perceived coziness with Republicans and whether he will leave the Democratic Party.
Fetterman has repeatedly broken with the Left over Israel and raised eyebrows this month when he recorded a video for the Republicans’ midterm convention in Texas. He maintains that he will not be switching parties, although he left open the possibility in July when he called anti-Israel sentiment a “red line” for him.
In the interview, Fetterman acknowledged that the convention video he recorded in support of his GOP colleague, Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA), upset Democrats. Fetterman has faced the threat of a primary challenge in 2028, when he is up for reelection in Pennsylvania, and a stream of unflattering reports sourced by former staffers.
Fetterman continues to vote with his caucus most of the time, but has morphed during his nearly four years in the Senate from a progressive Democrat into a centrist known better for his criticism of the party, including jabs at Democratic nominees for Senate.
“I know Democrats are frustrated with me, but I will remain one, and that’s where I’m at,” Fetterman said of his party affiliation.
He was among the relatively few politicians invited to the Fox News retreat in July. Tim Sheehy and Steve Daines, Montana’s two Republican senators, and Gov. Greg Gianforte (R-MT) attended, in addition to Britt and Fetterman.
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Britt confirmed that she sat on a panel on social media with Fetterman, telling the Washington Examiner that they discussed the technology’s effects on youth and how they’ve worked together on Capitol Hill.
A spokesperson for Fox News did not respond to a request for comment.