How Republicans secretly got Fetterman for their convention
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Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) appears on the video screen at the GOP's midterm convention last week. Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
The biggest surprise of last week's Republican midterm convention began with an audacious request from the organizers to GOP Sen. Dave McCormick: Could he get Democratic Sen. John Fetterman, a fellow Pennsylvanian, to make an appearance?
- "I'll ask him," McCormick said. Within days, Fetterman — who's been increasingly at odds with the Democratic Party's liberal wing — was on board.
Why it matters: Fetterman's 64-second video — calling himself a "common-sense Democrat," praising McCormick and vowing to work with President Trump to defend Pennsylvania's steel industry — represented Fetterman's biggest break yet with his party.
Behind the scenes: According to three sources familiar with the talks, the idea for Fetterman to make the appearance emerged over the summer, as organizers of the Dallas convention sought what they called an "Oh sh*t" moment.
- They were looking to drive home a key midterm message — that Democrats are too extreme.
- Organizers discussed featuring "walk away" figures — people who had supported Democrats but had become disillusioned with the party.
- Republican operative Tony Sayegh, a leading convention organizer, was a driving force behind the idea, and Trump adviser Jason Miller backed the plan. Fetterman topped their list.
Zoom in: Sayegh, a friend of McCormick's, took the idea to him in July.
- McCormick had developed a friendship with Fetterman as the Democrat grew more estranged from his party, particularly over many Democrats' criticism of Israel.
- Organizers knew getting Fetterman involved would be a massive coup.
The intrigue: McCormick approached Fetterman carefully, knowing the backlash his Democratic colleague could face if he agreed to a role in the GOP convention.
- McCormick asked Fetterman to introduce him at the convention. A source said McCormick added: "I don't want you to do something that's not good for you."
The two senators hashed it out over calls and texts for a few days.
- "I want to do it. I'm sure it will make people mad," Fetterman told McCormick, according to the source. "But you're my friend, and I want to introduce you."
- Fetterman's decision was driven by his friendship with McCormick, not a desire to help Republicans, said a source familiar with his thinking. Fetterman "had no interest in being a pawn in a larger Republican play," the source said.
There was brief talk of Fetterman traveling to Dallas to introduce McCormick in person, but he decided against it.
- Instead, Fetterman proposed recording a video outside a steel mill near his home in Braddock, Pa.
- McCormick's team arranged for a videographer to meet him there.
Fetterman didn't use a script. He riffed in front of the camera.
- He focused on introducing McCormick and highlighting their bipartisan work in support of Pennsylvania's steel industry.
- Neither McCormick nor convention organizers tried to alter what he said. The notion of Fetterman switching parties never came up, according to a source familiar with the deliberations.
Organizers saw Fetterman's appearance as a jolt that would draw eyeballs to the first-of-its-kind midterm convention — and play big on social media.
- To preserve the surprise, organizers kept the circle tight. McCormick looped in his chief of staff, Mark Isakowitz, and only a few others. Miller was Sayegh's point of contact in the White House.
- Fetterman went even further: He told no one on his team, a source told Axios.
The bottom line: Fetterman's appearance at Trump's convention deepened his estrangement from the Democratic Party.
- But Fetterman reiterated after his appearance that he isn't switching parties, calling himself a "lifelong Democrat" and saying that if Democrats win control of the Senate in November, he'd remain the "51st vote."
