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Sen. John Fetterman, D-PA, sparked a wave of laughter at a conference Saturday after falsely calling himself a “lifelong Republican.”
Fetterman made the statement while on stage at the Texas Tribune Festival, before quickly correcting himself and saying he had no reason to abandon the Democratic Party.
The moment came when an event attendee asked why Fetterman wasn’t running as an independent.
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Sen. John Fetterman, D-PA, sparked a wave of laughter at a conference Saturday after falsely calling himself a “lifelong Republican.” (Joseph A. Wulfsohn/Fox News Digital.)
“Because I’m a lifelong Republican,” he said, realizing his mistake. “I guarantee you this will pass. This will be cut.”
Fetterman gave a keynote speech earlier at the event, in which he expanded on his criticisms of the Republican and Democratic parties.
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“I have no reason to,” Fetterman said of joining the Republicans. “But in a big tent situation, it’s easier to be included in that big tent and say that America deserved the 9/11 attacks or that America is worse than Al-Qaida than it is to be very proud to stand with Israel.”
Senator John Fetterman, Democrat of Pennsylvania, leaves the Senate Chamber at the United States Capitol on July 15, 2025 in Washington, DC (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Fetterman admitted that he believed he had “no path forward as a Republican” but acknowledged that many Democrats were frustrated by his willingness to work with the opposing party.
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“If the Democratic Party eliminates or expels me, they still have the right to do so,” he said.
Fetterman was welcomed with open arms by Republicans to rejoin the party after leaving his own caucus and sparking new speculation that he would jump ship after releasing a video introducing his colleague, Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa., at the Republican National Committee’s midterm convention earlier this month.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presents Democratic Senator John Fetterman with a silver-plated pager, commemorating the operation that used pagers against Hamas leaders and members. Fetterman traveled to Israel to show support in its fight against the terrorist group that attacked on October 7, 2023, killing more than 1,200 people and taking many hostages. (group policy object)
But the progressive-turned-centrist has repeatedly affirmed his ties to the Democrat, even as the knives came out to free him from the Senate.
Fetterman began his Senate career after defeating Dr. Mehmet Oz in a tight race for office in 2022, where he clinched a historically slim Democratic majority in 2022 by running on a progressive platform.
But since then, he has become a thorn in the side of the Democrats and calls into question the direction of the party.
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Earlier this year, Fetterman warned that if Democrats became more entrenched in anti-Israel policy positions, he would leave the party, and criticized the party’s leadership during this midterm election cycle as far-left progressives, like Michigan’s Abdul El-Sayed, became the standard-bearers.
Alex Miller of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
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