President Donald Trump openly encouraged Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania to switch parties and become a Republican on Saturday, October 10, at Joint Base Andrews as he returned to Washington from a rally in Tennessee.
"I'd love to see him as a Republican," Trump told reporters. "He does better as a Republican than he does as a Democrat." The president described Fetterman as "a great guy" with "magnificent parents" and "great common sense," adding that the senator would find it difficult to secure the Democratic nomination for another term.
Trump's comments represent among the most direct attempts to recruit Fetterman into the GOP at a time when the party faces the possibility of losing its Senate majority in next month's elections. Democrats need to pick up four seats to retake control of the chamber, a prospect that has become less remote due to Trump's unpopularity and the economic fallout from the Iran war, according to sources consulted.
Fetterman, first elected to the Senate in 2022, has become a Democratic political figure whose allegiance has come into question during his time in Washington. Since joining the Senate in 2023, he has voted with Senate Democrats approximately 90 percent of the time, though that figure has fallen to just under 81 percent during the current session of Congress. He has publicly broken with his party on issues including the Iran war and immigration, and has reportedly used Republican fundraising platforms to solicit donations while maintaining a close friendship with Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama.
Fetterman's relationship with fellow Democrats has grown more strained following his appearance at the Republican Midterm Convention last month, where he recorded a video introducing Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa. In that video, he stated: "I'm always going to stand with America. I'm always going to reject the extremes and socialism and that anti-American way of life." Additionally, Fetterman mistakenly referred to himself as "a lifelong Republican" during an appearance at the Texas Tribune's TribFest last month before catching and correcting the error.
Despite this speculation, Fetterman has repeatedly rejected the notion of switching parties. In a May essay published in The Washington Post, he wrote that he would be "a terrible Republican who still votes overwhelmingly with Democrats." A representative for Fetterman did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding Trump's latest remarks.
Historically, Senate party switches have been rare and consequential. Former Vermont Sen. Jim Jeffords left the GOP in 2001 to give Democrats a narrow majority, while former Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter's decision to abandon Republicans in 2009 helped Democrats achieve a supermajority. If Democrats succeed in picking up four seats for a 51-seat majority in the upcoming elections, Fetterman would potentially hold significant influence in the chamber, reducing any incentive for him to switch parties.
