Trump urges Fetterman to switch parties, join GOP
President says senator ‘does better as a Republican’
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President Donald Trump openly encouraged Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania to switch parties and become a Republican just weeks before the midterm elections could reshape control of Congress.
"I'd love to see him as a Republican," Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews on Saturday as he returned to Washington from a rally in Tennessee. "He does better as a Republican than he does as a Democrat."
The comments were among the most direct overtures by Trump to woo Fetterman into the GOP, a matter of growing importance as the party could lose its Senate majority in next month's elections. With his everyman appeal, Fetterman was a Democratic star when he was first elected to the Senate in 2022. But during his time in Washington, he has split with Democrats on issues ranging from immigration to Israel, leading to speculation that he might switch parties.
A representative for Fetterman didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Fetterman has repeatedly rejected the notion of becoming a Republican, writing in The Washington Post in May that he would be a "terrible Republican who still votes overwhelmingly with Democrats." His relationship with fellow Democrats became more tenuous after he recorded a video for the Republican midterm convention last month praising his fellow Pennsylvania senator, Republican Dave McCormick.