Fetterman on an island as he reaches out to MAGA
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Photo illustration: Maura Losch/Axios. Photo: Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) has become a voice of bipartisanship, making moves that he tells Axios are "responsible and completely appropriate" — but that are putting him on an island, apart from other Democrats.
- As the vast majority of Democrats on Capitol Hill fume over many of Donald Trump's Cabinet picks and his plans for a second term, Fetterman is showing a rare willingness to engage with parts of MAGA world.
Why it matters: It's easy to think Fetterman could be a new version of Democrat-turned-independent Joe Manchin, a West Virginian who occasionally has frustrated Democrats and the Biden administration with his legislative demands.
- That would be wrong. Fetterman — the casually attired challenger of the Senate's suit-and-tie tradition — is a reliable Democratic vote who's emerging as an independent voice within his party simply by emphasizing the need to talk more with the other side.
Driving the news: This week, Fetterman became the first Democratic senator to agree to meet with Trump's embattled pick to lead the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth.
- Fetterman's decision to meet with Hegseth is likely to face backlash from some of his Democratic colleagues who are infuriated by Trump's choice of Hegseth, who's battling allegations involving drinking and sexual misconduct.
What he's saying: But Fetterman, who has shrugged as the progressive wing of his party tossed darts his way over his strong support for Israel during the Gaza war, told Axios that he sees meeting with Hegseth as an important part of the democratic process — and good politics.
- If Hegseth is "going to be the head of one of the most important parts of our government, then do you think I'm doing a job by flipping anyone off and saying, 'I'm not going to talk to him or just have a conversation?' " he asked.
- Fetterman said it would be "reckless and .... would be distressing if we're willing to completely turn our back" on conversations with people who could have leadership positions in Trump's administration.
- Fetterman is a rare Democrat who has publicly backed Trump's pick of Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) to serve as ambassador to the United Nations.
Between the lines: Fetterman staunchly rejects any comparisons to Manchin or Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), both of whom are leaving the Senate next month and have been repeated thorns in Democrats' side.
- "I'm not leaving my party, I just happen to have reasonable views and I don't know why that's controversial," Fetterman told the New York Times in October, when asked about his break with his party's progressive wing.
Zoom in: Fetterman's political calculus is evident — he represents a politically divided swing state that went for Trump and ousted Pennsylvania's senior senator, Democrat Bob Casey, in last month's election.
- That's likely a big reason why he's also become one of a few Democrats who — like Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, a regular guest on Fox News — is willing to engage with conservative-leaning platforms.
- Fetterman jumped onto Trump-owned Truth Social this week, joining a relatively small number of Democrats — none of them in the Senate — who are on the platform.
- His first post called Trump's criminal hush-money case in New York — and Hunter Biden's conviction — "bullshit," and said the president-elect should be pardoned, just as President Biden's son was.
- In November, Fetterman went on Joe Rogan's popular podcast, which many Democrats had been urging Vice President Harris to go on as the party's presidential nominee this fall.
- "It's really a simple rule: I'll have a conversation with anyone, if they're playing it straight, I'm going to do the same and engage," Fetterman said.
State of play: Any outlier acts by Fetterman could be amplified next year when the Senate loses strong swing state and red-state voices in Manchin, Sinema and Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.).
- Given the politics of his state, Fetterman often casts his willingness to engage with MAGA-world as pragmatism, even as some of his Democratic colleagues plot the "Resistance" against Trump's agenda.
- "If you're in a hard blue state," Fetterman told Axios, "you have the luxury to say all kinds of things."
Go deeper: Jeffries takes charge of the Democratic resistance
