Sen. John Fetterman appears in GOP convention video praising Trump on supporting steelworkers

DALLAS — In a remarkable move for a Democratic lawmaker, U.S. Sen. John Fetterman on Wednesday appeared in a video at the Republican midterms convention — an event specifically designed to boost GOP candidates this fall — in a way that praised President Donald Trump for his support of Pennsylvania steelworkers.

The video was a clear escalation of a monthslong shift in which Fetterman has drifted from the Democratic Party. Though he’s repeatedly rejected speculation that he would switch parties, he has consistently criticized Democrats and praised Trump since the president took office.

In the video — which introduced U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick (R., Pa.) as he took the stage — Fetterman said he and McCormick “will work with President Trump to fight and defend the steel way of life right here in the Steel Valley.”

“I’m always going to stand with America. I’m always going to reject the extremes and socialism, and the anti-American way of life,” he said, repeating a common refrain in which he criticizes the leftist wing of the Democratic Party that has secured several high-profile wins this year.

Fetterman, who was not physically in attendance at the American Airlines Arena in Dallas, was cheered and applauded after McCormick took the stage and said, “How great is John Fetterman, right?”

In addition to McCormick, several vulnerable House GOP incumbents from Pennsylvania are at the convention. Fetterman’s video appearance came shortly after a speech from U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan (R., Luzerne), who represents one of the districts Pennsylvania Democrats are hoping to flip this year.

Pennsylvania Democratic chair Eugene DePasquale said in a statement that Democrats in the state “aren’t going to be distracted by GOP stunts like this video or a weak midterm convention held by a party that’s entirely dedicated to enabling Trump’s ego” as they focus on November’s elections.

Fetterman has long been a supporter of the state’s steel industry as the former mayor of Braddock, the Pittsburgh suburb home to the Edgar Thomson Steel Works mill — which served as a backdrop to the video he shot for the convention.

U.S. Steel has pledged to invest up to $2.5 billion into that mill and other Mon Valley Works plants around Pittsburgh since its sale to Japan-based Nippon Steel last year.

The $15 billion sale had been held up for a year, opposed by both Republicans and Democrats concerned about a foreign takeover of the iconic company. Former President Joe Biden blocked the deal, and both Fetterman and McCormick criticized it before Trump took office.

But in the early months of Trump’s term, McCormick was among those who privately lobbied the president to negotiate.

Trump went on to secure a pledge that Nippon would have an American CEO, not lay off workers, and give the U.S. a so-called golden share in the company. Trump returned to Pennsylvania for his first rally in the state to celebrate the deal with steelworkers outside Pittsburgh.

“Under Joe Biden, Democrats blocked critical investment in U.S. Steel, risking thousands of jobs,” McCormick said on stage Wednesday. “I promised Pittsburgh steelworkers I would fight for the steel way of life, and President Trump did, too. And with the president’s leadership, we delivered a deal protecting and creating over 100,000 American jobs.”

Fetterman’s participation in the GOP conference — in the type of promotional video that is common at party conventions — is extremely rare.

The Pennsylvania Democratic senator’s decision to record a video praising Trump ahead of the election may draw comparisons to Georgia Democratic Sen. Zell Miller’s fiery speech praising President George W. Bush — and denigrating Democratic nominee John Kerry — at the 2004 Republican National Convention.

State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, a Philadelphia Democrat who ran against Fetterman in the 2022 Senate primary, drew a different historical comparison.

“John is Benedict Arnold, but lazy. Could barely get off the couch in his million-dollar mansion to kiss Trump’s ring, he phoned it in like everything he does,” Kenyatta, a Democratic National Committee vice chair, said on X.

U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle, a Philadelphia Democrat, similarly blasted the senator’s video appearance at the rival party’s convention.

“A year ago, I labeled John Fetterman ‘Trump’s favorite Democrat.’ Tonight, he yet again proves why,” said Boyle, who, like Kenyatta, is seen as a possible contender for Fetterman’s seat in 2028.

Fetterman has not yet said he will run for reelection and his dismal approval ratings among Democrats could make it difficult to win a primary — unless he switches parties. Among Republican voters, he was even more popular than McCormick in last month’s poll from The Inquirer, New York Times, and Siena University.

Fetterman’s developed a close association and friendship with McCormick since the Republican’s election in 2024. While Fetterman rarely makes public appearances in the state he represents, he’s appeared at a few with McCormick.

In a striking move, the bipartisan pair also set up a joint fundraising campaign committee this summer as Fetterman’s own fundraising lagged. This past week, McCormick came to Fetterman’s defense after the Wall Street Journal reported that the Democrat frequently avoided meeting with, and privately criticized, constituents and interest groups.

“These stories are the latest example of outrageously disloyal staff and forces on the Left using anonymous leaks to cancel my friend John Fetterman,” McCormick wrote on social media. “They hate that he is an independent thinker who refuses to fall into line so they want to silence him.”

In the convention video, Fetterman called McCormick a “great American, a great senator.”

“Yes, he is in a different party, but I’m proud to count him as my great friend,” Fetterman said.