U.S. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) has shown much more willingness to reach across the aisle in Congress than almost any of his Democratic colleagues.
After he became the first Senate Democrat to meet with President Donald Trump at Mar-A-Lago prior to Monday’s inauguration, speculation began to grow that he might be considering a switch to the GOP.
Those rumors began to spread even more this week, to the point that Fetterman himself had to set the record straight.
According to The Hill :
The Pennsylvania senator told Semafor that talk about a potential flip to the GOP is “amateur-hour s‑‑‑.”
“If they think, ‘Oh, it’s going to be like a Manchin or a Sinema play,’ that’s just not true, and that’s not going to happen,” Fetterman said to the outlet on the evening of Trump’s inauguration, referring to former Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.), who began their careers as Democrats but retired this year as Independents.
“It’s not going to happen. And even if I wanted to do that, this is a rocket sled to Palookaville to try and switch — I would make a pretty bad Republican.”
As of this writing, however, his reassurances haven’t shut down all of the speculation on social media:
Semafor shared some recent moves by Fetterman that have confounded Democrats while attracting some praise from Republicans:
The Pennsylvania Democratic senator has stirred plenty of intrigue with his recent visit to Mar-a-Lago to see President Donald Trump, his work with Republicans on the Laken Riley Act and his support for the Israeli government. He’s actively trying to change the way his party deals with Trump, urging Democrats not to freak out about the president’s controversial actions and stay open to confirming his nominees.
But Fetterman said his party affiliation and place in the Senate Democratic caucus is “not going to change,” adding that he’s privately expressed that to colleagues in leadership.
The notoriously casual lawmaker also sparked headlines with his inauguration attire:
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