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Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pennsylvania) made a highly unusual video appearance Wednesday at the Republican midterm convention in Dallas, praising Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pennsylvania) and expressing willingness to work with President Donald Trump.
The video was the latest instance of Fetterman lauding Republicans; that praise, coupled with his frequent criticism of his own party, has stoked speculation that he could become a Republican.
Fetterman described himself during his remarks at the convention as a "common-sense Democrat" who rejected socialism. He lauded McCormick as his "great friend" and "a great senator" even though the two belong to different parties.
"We'll work together and we'll work with President Trump to fight and defend the steel way right here in the Steel Valley," Fetterman said in the video, standing in front of the U.S. Steel plant in Braddock, Pennsylvania, where Fetterman lives.
Fetterman has made public appearances with McCormick in Pennsylvania during the Senate's five-week summer recess. McCormick returned Fetterman's praise on Tuesday, drawing cheers from the crowd.
"How great is John Fetterman, right?" McCormick said after the video played. "Thank you Senator Fetterman for your friendship, thank you for your courage and thank you for all you do for Pennsylvania."
Fetterman's appearances on Fox News and pointed criticism of Democrats have helped make him popular with Republicans, even as he has mostly continued to vote with Democrats in the Senate.
Seventy-nine percent of Republicans in Pennsylvania have a favorable opinion of Fetterman, according to a New York Times/Philadelphia Inquirer/Siena College poll conducted last month. That's higher than the share of Republicans who have a favorable view of McCormick, who almost always votes with his party.
Only 21 percent of Democrats hold a favorable opinion of Fetterman, and 67 percent hold an unfavorable opinion.
Fetterman has criticized Democrats for reflexively opposing Trump, but has insisted he has no plans to switch parties. "I'd be a terrible Republican who still votes overwhelmingly with Democrats," Fetterman wrote in May in a Washington Post op-ed.
Still, he has found himself increasingly out of step with other Democrats on his staunch support for Israel. He is the only Democratic senator who has voted consistently against forcing Trump to end the war with Iran.
In July, Fetterman said the only way he would abandon his party is if it became "the anti-Israel party."
"That's when I would leave," Fetterman said at an event organized by the Hill and NewsNation.
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Previously:
• Seeking to flip Senate, Dems are running ads to criticize their own
• Backlash in Michigan complicates Dems' road to retaking the Senate
• Senate votes to take up Trump's voting bill to 'guarantee the midterms'