Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. John Fetterman has finally responded to growing rumors in DC and online that he plans to switch his party affiliation to the GOP.
That’s “not going to happen,” he told Semafor on Monday.
“That’s amateur hour s**t,” he said. “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.”
He was referencing now former Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) and Joe Manchin (W.V.), who famously left the Democratic Party to become Independents — though they still caucused with Dems.
“It’s not gonna happen,” he added. “And even if I wanted to do that, that is a rocket sled to Palookaville to try to switch. I would make a pretty bad Republican.”
The Pennsylvania Democratic senator has sparked significant interest with his recent visit to Mar-a-Lago to meet President Donald Trump, his collaboration with Republicans on the Laken Riley Act, and his vocal support for the Israeli government.
He is actively working to reshape his party’s approach to Trump, encouraging Democrats to remain calm about the president’s controversial actions and to remain open to confirming his nominees.
And while he appears to have a moderate streak, that won’t translate into a party switch, he’s made abundantly clear — especially to Democratic Party leaders in Congress, Semafor added.
Fetterman turned more heads within his party when he met with Trump at the president’s Mar-a-Lago estate ahead of his inauguration, subsequently revealing details of their meeting.
“It was a totally fascinating meeting,” Trump told the Washington Examiner in an exclusive interview following the meeting. “He’s a fascinating man, and his wife is lovely. … I couldn’t be more impressed.”
Among the topics: Protecting the U.S. steel industry, which is vital for Fetterman’s home state of Pennsylvania, and supporting Israel in its war against Hamas.
According to The Examiner, Trump and Fetterman also discussed the president-elect’s proposal for the United States to pursue a strategic acquisition of Greenland.
“He’s a common sense person. He’s not liberal or conservative,” Trump said of the Democrat.
Fetterman discussed his decision to accept Trump’s Mar-a-Lago invite last week. “We are going to have a conversation,” the senator said of their planned meeting.
“I think that one, he’s the president, or he will be officially,” the maverick senator told CBS News. “And I think it’s pretty reasonable that if the president would like to have a conversation — or invite someone to have a conversation — to have it. And no one is my gatekeeper.”
“I’ve been very clear that I have ongoing conversations with people that are going to have an impact on Pennsylvania and for the nation,” he said. “And I am a senator for Pennsylvania, not just for Democrats. I am a senator for everyone in Pennsylvania.”
As most Democrats scoffed at Trump’s plans to gain control of Greenland, Fetterman did not dismiss the idea.
“I have no idea what’s going to exactly come up. So, I mean, regardless of whatever comes up, that’s going to be part of the conversation,” he said to CBS News.
He later joked with reporters who asked him why he was going to meet with the president-elect, saying, “I’m angling to be named the pope of Greenland.”
In December Fetterman placed blame for the Democrat defeat on former House Speaker and Democrat California Rep. Nancy Pelosi.
During an interview with Politico, Fetterman went after Pelosi when asked if he thought President Joe Biden should have dropped out of the race after the terrible debate with Donald Trump.
“People like [Nancy] Pelosi, she really tried to — what’s the word I’m looking for? — she embraced this ‘she’s the godmother, she’s the enforcer.’ And now she’s blaming Biden,” Fetterman said, holding nothing back while blaming Pelosi for trying to pull power moves.
“Well, you can’t have it both ways. You got what you wanted,” he added, referring to Biden’s ouster and the installment of Kamala Harris, “and now you’re still blaming Biden.”
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