Fetterman Rejects Party-Switch Talk: ‘I’d Be a Terrible Republican’

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) on Thursday published a Washington Post column defending his bipartisan record while declaring himself a Democrat with no plans to leave the party. 

Titled “Become a Republican? I’d be terrible,” the column lands days after a Politico Magazine report that detailed an alleged quiet effort by President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans to court the first-term Pennsylvania Democrat. Fetterman has increasingly broken with his party on Israel, border policy, and the Department of Homeland Security shutdown. 

In a March appearance on the “Hang Out With Sean Hannity” podcast, Hannity said Trump told him the day before having Fetterman on his show that the Democratic senator should run as a Republican and would have “full support.” 

Fetterman’s column did not address Trump’s reported offer directly. Instead, he turned his focus to what he cast as his party’s reflexive opposition to the president.

“My party cannot simply be the opposite of whatever President Donald Trump says,” Fetterman wrote. “The president could come out for ice cream and lazy Sundays, and my party would suddenly hate them. Such pointless pile-ons and attacks are unproductive. The American people want us to work together to find solutions on issues they and our country face.”

Fetterman described his positions as ones long held by Democrats. He noted his 2024 vote on an immigration bill aimed at slowing border crossings, his cosponsorship of fentanyl legislation, and his role as the lead Democrat on the Laken Riley Act. He wrote that someone who enters the country illegally and commits a violent crime should be deported.

On government funding, Fetterman wrote that he has consistently voted to end shutdowns because federal workers and travelers were being harmed. He has been the only Senate Democrat voting with Republicans during the most recent DHS funding standoff, citing the toll on unpaid Transportation Security Administration agents.

Fetterman also defended his support for Israel against Iran-backed terror groups Hamas and Hezbollah, writing that his party’s recent presidential candidates had identified Iran as a significant global threat that should not be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon.

“These once-common views have become increasingly toxic in the Democratic Party, a result of catering to the fringe and agitated parts of our base,” he wrote, adding that protesters have followed him around Washington and shown up at his Braddock, Pennsylvania, home calling him a traitor for, in his telling, voting his conscience.

“My values have not changed, and I have always turned to those kinds of ideals that defined being a Democrat,” Fetterman wrote. “I remain strongly pro-choice, pro-weed, pro-LGBT, pro-SNAP, pro-labor and even pro-rib-eye over bio slop.”

The senator listed bipartisan collaboration to bolster his case. He wrote that he and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy worked together to unfreeze $1 billion in federal funding for Pennsylvania transportation projects. He said he and his Republican Pennsylvania counterpart Sen. Dave McCormick have together delivered hundreds of millions in federal dollars to the state for transportation projects. 

He cited the recent Hot Rotisserie Chicken Act with Sen. Jim Justice (R-W.Va.), which would allow SNAP recipients to use benefits to buy hot rotisserie chicken. He also pointed to the Stop the Scroll Act with Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) on children’s mental health. 

The May 4 report about the courting of Fetterman to switch parties described Fetterman’s growing personal friendships with the McCormicks and the Britts. Fetterman said in that interview he is “not changing,” adding, “I’m a Democrat, and I’m staying one.”

Fetterman closed his column with a similar message, writing that he will keep putting his state and country first regardless of party pressure.

“Plus, I’d be a terrible Republican who still votes overwhelmingly with Democrats.”