Pa. Democrats say John Fetterman is siding with Donald Trump too much, new poll shows
The Pennsylvania Democrat is more popular among GOP voters than the state's Republican senator, Dave McCormick, according to the new Inquirer/NYT/Siena poll.
Two-thirds of Pennsylvania Democrats who are likely to vote this year believe U.S. Sen. John Fetterman supports President Donald Trump too frequently while about half say the Democratic senator has been too supportive of Israel, according to an Inquirer/New York Times/Siena University poll published Tuesday.
Democratic voters’ sharply divided views on Fetterman — including 69% having an unfavorable opinion of him in general — are the latest signs he could face an uphill battle if he seeks reelection as a Democrat in 2028.
Fetterman has not said whether he will run for a second term.
But as he weighs his options — which include leaving the Democratic Party because of what he considers its anti-Israel sentiment — the senator’s occasional support of Trump’s agenda has contributed to his declining favorability among voters who helped elect him in the first place, the new survey indicates.
“I’m so disappointed in him, I can’t even see straight,” said Joseph Jaskula, a retired salesman from Lewisburg in Union County who participated in the poll of 760 likely voters conducted by Siena University on behalf of The Inquirer and The New York Times from Aug. 17 to 21.
Jaskula, a Democrat who said he voted for Fetterman in 2022, said he’s particularly upset about the senator’s votes for several of Trump’s nominees and for the war in Iran.
Fetterman has been the only Senate Democrat to vote against restricting the president’s use of military force in Iran.
“He voted with the Republicans on that,” Jaskula, 72, said of the war powers resolutions that aimed to rein in Trump. “And he’s had some other ones where we wonder if he’s a Republican or a Democrat.”
Fetterman’s standing among Pennsylvania voters overall remains split, according to the poll.
He is viewed favorably by 49% and unfavorably by 43% of all likely voters in the state. That was nearly the same result as the last time the Inquirer/New York Times/Siena poll asked about Fetterman’s favorability, in May 2024.
But the difference between now and then — when Fetterman was campaigning against Trump’s election and only two years removed from his own sweeping victory in the Pennsylvania Democratic primary — is who is supporting him.
Fetterman outperforms McCormick with GOP voters
In almost the exact opposite breakdown compared to about two years ago, just one in five likely Democratic voters say they have a favorable view of Fetterman while four out of every five likely Republican voters said they have a favorable view.
Even Fetterman’s Republican counterpart in Pennsylvania — U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick, who was elected in 2024 — is viewed favorably by a smaller share of GOP voters, about 66% compared to Fetterman’s 79%.
Don Levy, director of the Siena Research Institute, called the senator’s numbers “shocking.”
“If you didn’t know any difference, you would immediately assume that Fetterman and McCormick are both Republicans, and that Fetterman is an extremely popular Republican senator amongst Republicans,” Levy said. “I can’t think of another case exactly like this.”
Fetterman, citing his voting record in the Senate that still mostly aligns with Democrats, has said repeatedly that he will not switch his registration to Republican.
GOP leaders who are fighting to retain control of the Senate this fall have said they would welcome the Pennsylvania Democrat into their fold.
And Fetterman has raised the prospect of leaving the party, possibly becoming an independent in the process, if Democrats oppose Israel as an “official” part of their platform. He has staunchly supported the country in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, and as Democrats have become increasingly opposed to Israel’s counterattack.
Fetterman has opposed fellow Democrats’ efforts to end the United States’ assistance to Israel’s offensive measures. He’s also become the most vocal Democratic supporter of both countries’ attacks against Iran, an issue that also remains deeply unpopular among Pennsylvania voters.
At the same time, Fetterman has backed other Trump initiatives, like immigration enforcement and the investment accounts for children known as Trump Accounts.
“He’s a voice in the party, standing up for what’s right,” said Nicholas Morabito, a 32-year-old warehouse worker in Butler who participated in the poll.
A registered Republican, Morabito said he would consider voting for Fetterman in 2028, regardless of which party was next to his name on the ballot.
“I don’t think there’s very much difference between the two of us. Just the difference in party,” Morabito said.
Fetterman has acknowledged the shift in support. He wrote in his 2025 memoir that he was “completely at peace” with the idea that his support of Israel might cost him his Senate seat. And in interviews, he’s repeatedly said that, as a swing state senator, he should work with and not demonize the other party.
A plurality of likely voters — 47% — say Fetterman is “about right” when it comes to supporting or opposing Trump, according to the poll. Another 38% said he supports Trump too much, 6% said he opposes Trump too much and 9% didn’t answer.
But Democratic voters have indicated a strong desire for their elected officials to push back against Trump, and Fetterman’s declining support among them appears to be due in part because of that shift under Trump’s second term. About 67% of likely Democratic voters said Fetterman supports the president too much while 20% said he gets it “about right.”
“Fetterman has been such an interesting, unique personality now since he broke onto the scene,” Levy said. “Given the state of play right now, Democrats are just angry that he was elected. Democrats are supposed to act like Democrats, and this shows that their perception of him is that he is not.”
The New York Times/Philadelphia Inquirer/Siena University poll of Pennsylvania was funded by a grant from The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. The poll was designed and conducted independently from the institute.
