Sen. John Fetterman makes surprise appearance at Republican midterm convention

Democratic Sen. John Fetterman made a surprise appearance at the Republican midterm convention on Wednesday night, a surprising move that is sure to invite further scrutiny of his party loyalty.

“Yes, I’m a Democrat,” Fetterman, a first-term senator from Pennsylvania, said in a video played on the opening night of the event, dubbed “Trumpapalooza” because of its focus on President Donald Trump.

“Why am I here talking to you today? Because I’m a common-sense Democrat,” Fetterman said in a video shot outside U.S. Steel’s Edgar Thomson plant in Braddock, Pennsylvania.

“I’m always going to stand with America. I’m always going to reject extreme socialism and anti-American ways of living,” he said.

Fetterman’s video introduced Pennsylvania’s other Republican senator, Dave McCormick, praising him as a “get-the-job-done type of senator who’s going to fight for Pennsylvania.”

Fetterman also vowed to “work with President Trump to protect and protect the steel way of life here in Steel Valley.”

Since taking office in 2023, Fetterman has become a frequent critic of his own party and appears regularly on Fox News. At the same time, polls show that while his standing among Republicans is rising, his approval ratings among Democrats are plummeting.

Although he has repeatedly denied any plans to change parties ahead of his re-election in 2028, multiple news outlets have reported that he has grown closer to other Democrats and closer to Republicans such as McCormick.

Less than a week later, the Wall Street Journal reported that Fetterman, who suffered a stroke during his 2022 campaign, faces frequent personnel changes and is often more interested in developing conservative media figures than in his job as a U.S. senator.

Fetterman dismissed the report as “lies, half-truths, innuendo, slander, and anonymity.”