Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, the unpredictable Democrat who has increasingly drawn praise from conservatives, says he still doesn’t quite know what to make of his striking popularity with Republican voters — even as he brushed aside a public invitation from Lara Trump to join the GOP.
Fetterman (D-Pa.) conceded once again that his positions have sometimes left him feeling politically “isolated” inside his own party, particularly because of his forceful support for Israel and his readiness to criticize the far-left wing of the Democratic coalition.
“I go everywhere. I do most of a lot of the shopping. And people will approach me, and it’s almost uniformly very positive,” Fetterman said in a prerecorded appearance on “My View with Lara Trump,” which was released Saturday.
“I can’t fully understand — I’ve seen polling — why I’m so popular with Republicans. I don’t really understand that, but I’m always going to treat both sides with respect,” the Pennsylvania Democrat added.
Fetterman emphasized that he has no interest in using inflammatory labels for Republicans, saying he will not describe them as fascists or Nazis. His view, he said, is that political opponents should be able to “disagree in a respectful way.”
A Quinnipiac University survey conducted earlier this month underscored the unusual political dynamic: Fetterman posted a 77% approval rating among Pennsylvania Republicans, while 69% of Democrats in the state said they disapproved of him.
Some GOP figures, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), have openly courted Fetterman and encouraged him to consider crossing the aisle. The senator has repeatedly dismissed the idea, though he has said the one scenario that could force a break would be if Democrats became firmly anti-Israel.
During the interview, Lara Trump told Fetterman the Republican Party would “love” to welcome him. Fetterman, however, made clear he was not taking her up on the offer.
“My whole family is Republican, and I think they love me,” Fetterman quipped, noting his dad watching him on the show does. “My criticism is directed at the extreme, in my view, indefensible kinds of views [of] things.”
“People that are winning the primaries, they are almost always anti-Israel and then anti-American, and they’ve been forced to delete all the outlandish things that they’ve said.”
Fetterman recounted how he has fought against Democrats during government shutdown standoffs and refused to turn against Israel.
Despite his reputation, GovTrack ranks Fetterman as more liberal than over a dozen Senate Democrats based on his voting record in the upper chamber.
The hulking senator also grumbled over how he takes slings and arrows for dinging the party when it goes too far to the left, but hardcore lefties get off easy for attacking moderate Democrats.
“There’s also been a double standard. People, whether it’s [Bernie] Sanders or other people, are allowed to criticize Democrats, but when I call out the extreme … I get the criticism like ‘why are you going on Fox?’” Fetterman grumbled.
“I’ll have a conversation with anyone that’s going to play it straight as you and Fox has.”
