Credit: PA Internet News Service
Pennsylvania Democratic U.S. Sen. John Fetterman made a surprise video appearance Wednesday night at the Republican midterm convention in Dallas.
The Pittsburgh-area Democrat praised his GOP colleague, U.S. Sen. David McCormick.
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“Yes, I’m a Democrat,” Fetterman said, adding that he rejects “the extremes and socialism,” which he characterized as an “anti-American way of life.”
Filmed with a U.S. Steel facility near Pittsburgh as his backdrop for the video, the former lieutenant governor and mayor posed the question: “Why am I here talking to you today? Because I’m a common-sense Democrat.”
Fetterman introduced McCormick at the conference and called him a “great American” and “great senator.”
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“Yes, he’s in a different party,” Fetterman told the crowd. “But I’m proud to count him as my great friend.”
The U.S. Steel location featured in the video is connected to the manufacturer’s finishing plant in Falls Township.
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The company was bought by Japan-based Nippon Steel Corporation in a roughly $15 billion transaction that sparked concerns among certain public officials regarding foreign ownership of the iconic American firm.
Fetterman mentioned President Donald Trump in his remarks and briefly spoke of his efforts to work with both McCormick and the president to safeguard “the steel way of life.”
McCormick shared his thanks toward Fetterman, stating that both lawmakers were “sent to Washington to fight for what’s best for PA.”
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McCormick later posted photographs on social media depicting himself in conversation with Trump backstage after the address.
Fetterman and McCormick recently established a joint campaign fundraising committee, a rare move by lawmakers of two separate parties.
A poll conducted recently by the New York Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and Siena College said Fetterman holds a 49 percent favorability rating among likely Republican voters. Only 20 percent of Democratic voters had a favorable view of Fetterman.
The video segment led to criticism from members of Fetterman’s own party.
State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, of Philadelphia, who serves as vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, issued a statement calling Fetterman “the laziest Benedict Arnold America has ever seen.”
“He didn’t even have it in him to get off his couch in his million dollar penthouse to kiss Donald Trump’s ring in person. He phoned it in, just as he has everyday as our senator,” Kenyatta said, asking Fetterman to “do his job or resign.”
Brendan McPhillips, who managed Fetterman’s successful 2022 Senate campaign, offered a critique on X, formerly known as Twitter.
McPhillips wrote that Fetterman “could’ve built a legacy as a champion for workers, PA’s forgotten cities, everything he campaigned on in 16 and 22,” but argued that “instead he’ll go out as a low rent Joe Lieberman.”
