Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) indicated that it may be time to up the efforts to peel Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) away from the Democratic Party.
Fetterman enraged leftists when he appeared remotely at the GOP’s midterm convention in Dallas, where President Donald J. Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and all of the loyal MAGA soldiers in Congress sought to fire up voters for the pivotal elections, now less than two months away.
In a video message, the self-proclaimed “common-sense Democrat” pledged that “I’m always going to stand with America. I’m always going to reject the extremes and socialism and the anti-American way of life,” praising Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) and pledging to work with Trump to save the state’s steel mills.
SHOCKING MOVE: Democratic Sen. John Fetterman makes a surprise video appearance at the GOP midterm convention, declaring he will reject “the extremes and socialism and that anti-American way of life.”
The appearance is a stunning turn for the first-term senator who skipped his… pic.twitter.com/dnbPPapjh0
— Fox News (@FoxNews) September 9, 2026
In an interview with the New York Post, the top Senate Republican said that he’s ready to sit down with the Democrat renegade to close the deal on his potential defection.
“If and when he is ready to have that conversation, we are certainly ready to have it,” Thune told the paper. “It’s going to be increasingly hard for him to have a home in a Democratic Party that is so far out of step with his core values, and I think that you know what he said yesterday reflects that.”
“I don’t push him on it,” the GOP Senate leader added.
Fetterman had already incurred the wrath of his own party for breaking ranks on illegal immigration and Israel before the GOP convention virtual appearance, which had his fellow Democrats boiling with anger.
Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.) slammed the “Trumpapalooza” video as a “stunt” and lashed out at Fetterman over his “work ethic,” suggesting he sold out his own voters with the virtual address, which she called “gravely disappointing.”
“My constituents are livid. Those who went out and knocked doors for him are absolutely livid,” Dean said at a House Democrat event on Thursday, The Hill reported.
“My constituents and folks all over Pennsylvania are pretty frustrated with John Fetterman,” Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.) told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “They’re pretty disappointed. I’ve been all over not just my district of Pennsylvania, trying to help us flip the most competitive congressional races. And John Fetterman is nowhere to be found.”
“And frankly, folks don’t want him on the trail. He’s spending his time, frankly, going on right-wing media to bash the Democrats,” the Pennsylvania Democrat added.
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith accused Fetterman of “spitting in the face” of Pennsylvanians who voted for him.
“It is one thing to support the president’s policies about 28 percent of the time, which is more than any senator has done, which he has done. It is one thing to be against socialism,” he told NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo. “It’s another thing entirely to be a Democrat and be a part of a hype video at a Republican convention.”
“That is just pretty much spitting in the face of Democrats who elected you to office,” Smith said.
Fetterman was recently savaged by The Wall Street Journal in a brutal hit piece that, among other things, accused him of shirking his duties to constituents to concentrate on his regular appearances on Fox News.
Poised to be a possible swing vote in a divided Congress, Sen. John Fetterman churns through staff as he dodges constituents, alienates fellow Democrats and courts Israel lobby. 🔗: https://t.co/P7OVoBTSHE pic.twitter.com/shNN8h5AjW
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) September 4, 2026
“Per usual — lies, half-truths, innuendos, smears and anonymous,” he said in a statement reacting to the story, adding, “No matter how many smears or stories, I’m proud to continue to deliver for Pennsylvania.”
The hoodie-clad senator has insisted that he is a Democrat and that the only thing that could cause him to jump ship would be his party’s increasingly antagonistic stance toward Israel, telling Fox News that he would have to bolt if the Democrats become “the anti-Israel party.”
“I’m a lifelong Democrat who votes overwhelmingly with my party — and should the Senate flip in November, I will still be the 51st vote that I ran on,” Fetterman said in a statement.
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