Pennsylvania U.S. Sen. John Fetterman defended his position in the Democratic Party on Saturday, arguing there should be more room for different opinions in the party.
At the closing keynote of the Texas Tribune Festival, Fetterman said he doesn’t have a reason to join the Republicans, pointing to the fact that he joins the Democrats on most partisan votes.
“I don’t have a reason to,” Fetterman said. “But for a big-tent situation, it’s easier to be included in that big tent to say America deserved 9/11 or America is worse than Al-Qaida than being very proud to stand on the side of Israel.”
In a wide-ranging interview, Fetterman also pushed back against reporting from The Wall Street Journal this month that the senator dodged constituent meetings, drawing accusations that he was disinterested in doing the job of a senator.
To a Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial Board piece calling him a lazy senator, he pointed to the projects and spending he has secured for Pennsylvania, including in partnership with the Trump administration.
In a statement earlier this month, Fetterman said he would “still be the 51st vote that I ran on” if Democrats take the Senate, referring to the tie-breaking vote. But closing out the festival, he said speculation about the next Congress was irrelevant until after the November election.
“Wait till the midterms. See what I do,” Fetterman said. “Let’s revisit after the midterm and see what happens if I happen to be 51.”
Sporting his hallmark hoodie and gym shorts, Fetterman said he is also waiting until then to decide if he will run for reelection in 2028.
“I am fundraising with that as the possibility,” Fetterman said.
Nearly two-thirds of Pennsylvania Democrats view Fetterman unfavorably, according to a poll conducted last month by The New York Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer and Siena University. Although Pennsylvania Republicans view him more favorably than they do their GOP senator, U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick, Fetterman said he has “no path as a Republican.”
“If the Democratic Party votes me out or expels me, they’re always entitled to do that,” he continued.
Criticizing purity tests, Fetterman pointed to U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, the Texas Republican who lost his primary this spring to Attorney General Ken Paxton, who challenged him from the right.
“He’s a rock-ribbed conservative, and what happened to him?” Fetterman asked. “If we want a big tent party that people say, then the big tent for me means I happen to believe it is appropriate to hold Iran accountable and to stand with Israel throughout the Gaza war.”
Fetterman’s trip to Texas comes less than three weeks after he introduced McCormick in a surprise video at the GOP midterm convention in Dallas.
Fetterman, who flipped his Senate seat in 2022 with the support of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, told the democratic socialist figurehead to “maybe sit a few out” after backing left-wing candidates in Democratic primaries. The formerly self-described progressive rejected “the extremes of socialism” in his convention video.
His popularity with the party base has tanked with his support for Israel and high-profile breaks with Democrats, like on funding the government and approving Trump’s nominees. Most recently, on Thursday, Fetterman cast the deciding vote against curbing President Donald Trump’s use of force in Iran.
Since 2025, Fetterman has been Democrats’ least reliable vote in the Senate, spurring speculation that he would leave the party. Despite Republicans’ attempts to coax him to their side, Fetterman has repeatedly reaffirmed his position as a lifelong Democrat.
“I’m not a Republican,” he said.
Later in the evening, an audience question asked why Fetterman wouldn’t become an independent.
“Because I’m a lifelong Republican,” he said, raising his hand to his head, embarrassed after he realized the slip. “I guarantee you that will break through. That will get clipped.”
