Democratic Sen. John Fetterman was a surprise virtual guest at Wednesday’s Republican convention in Dallas, Texas.
The senator’s slide to the right under the second Trump administration and the end of Joe Biden’s presidency is well-documented, but his appearance in a video explicitly for the use of Republican campaigning is still a new development for the Pennsylvania senator who won a close race to protect a Democratic Senate majority in 2022 and once took a highly oppositional tone toward Donald Trump and the MAGA-fied Republican Party.
Fetterman’s appearance came in the form of a video praising both Trump and his colleague in the Pennsylvania Senate delegation, Republican Dave McCormick. McCormick spoke Wednesday evening at the convention. In the video, Fetterman also rejected “socialism”, which he has linked to a wave of progressive candidates winning Democratic primaries in New York and other states.
"Yes, I’m Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania. Yes, I’m a Democrat. Why am I here talking to you today? Because, well, I am a common-sense Democrat. I am always going to stand with America. I'm always going to reject the extremes [of] socialism and that anti-American way of life,” Fetterman said haltingly in the video.
“Dave McCormick is the kind of senator who gets the job done,” he continued in the video.
The senator went on to make a statement that likely crossed a line for many in his party, as the Democrats are as little as two months away from potentially winning back majorities in the House and Senate: He praised the president and claimed that he would be able to work with Trump alongside Republicans.
“Right back over my shoulder, that's the iconic U.S. Steel mill, and that's exactly the kind of thing that we’ll work together and we’ll work with President Trump to fight and defend the steel way of life right here in the Steel Valley,” said the Democratic senator.
His words drew immediate condemnations online, including at least one from a Democrat in the Pennsylvania congressional delegation who just days ago pilloried the senator over a report in The Wall Street Journal detailing Fetterman’s apparent disinterest in key parts of his job.
Rep. Chris Deluzio, a progressive from the Pittsburgh area, told reporters this week that he was considering a primary challenge against Fetterman in 2028.
“Too lazy to do it in person. Checks out,” joked the congressman on X.
Nick Field, a Pennsylvania-based elections analyst formerly with Sabato’s Crystal Ball, correctly predicted Fetterman’s surprise appearance at the convention. His reaction in the wake of the news was similar to Deluzio’s: “I was so close, should've realized Fetterman wouldn't bother to actually make the trip.”
Fetterman’s office did not immediately return a request for comment.
Democrats in his party are hoping to take four seats in each of the House and Senate to win majorities in the two chambers in November. McCormick is less than two years into his first term as Pennsylvania’s junior senator and therefore not up for re-election this year, making his colleague’s video message slightly less awkward for his party — but only just.
Fetterman’s party is still trying to win key races in Maine, Texas, Alaska and a handful of other states. His endorsement of both his colleague and a Republican president with flagging approval ratings could still make that job tougher.
“Remove him from the senate democratic caucus. if he does this tonight, the removal must happen tomorrow. you don’t get to call yourself a Democrat and do shit like this,” wrote one angry Democrat on BlueSky.
His presence on the campaign trail for Democrats this cycle, including those in battleground House districts in Pennsylvania, has been nonexistent this cycle. Deluzio, speaking to journalists in the wake of the Journal report, claimed it was because no one wanted him to campaign with them.
"I don’t think that Democrats want John Fetterman campaigning for them, and I say that as a guy who’s campaigning with Democrats in the most competitive and toughest districts across Pennsylvania," he said.
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