John Fetterman Isn’t a Republican

By Charles C. W. Cooke

Monday, May 04, 2026

 

There’s a lot of buzz today about John Fetterman becoming a Republican. It is not going to happen. Politico’s story on the matter notes:

 

If Fetterman does flip, according to officials who were given anonymity to talk about sensitive matters, it will be thanks in large part to his deepening friendship with a pair of senators and their high-profile spouses: Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.), and his wife Dina, and Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.), and her husband, Wesley.

 

That, though, is not going to overcome the big problem, which is that . . . well, John Fetterman is not a Republican:

 

“I’m not changing,” Fetterman told me in an interview Friday when I asked if he was ruling out both becoming a Republican or turning independent. “I’m a Democrat, and I’m staying one. “

 

Yet, at least in private, he’s not totally rejecting dropping his “D.”

 

When one senior Republican recently brought up the idea of becoming an independent to Fetterman, he absorbed the suggestion and didn’t embrace or reject the overture, according to a GOP official familiar with the conversation.

 

In our interview, Fetterman said bluntly: “I’d be a shitty Republican.”

 

This is because John Fetterman isn’t a Republican. He’s heterodox, sure. On some issues, he’s less crazy than the rest of his party. And he doesn’t do the weird Latest Update Downloaded thing (“we’ve always been in favor banning gas stoves!”) of which modern Democrats are so fond. But he’s not a Republican.

 

What he could be — if he can win reelection in 2028, which, given his unpopularity among Democrats, is not a given — is a useful moderating force against lunacy. If, as some say they ought, the next Democrat trifecta tries to abolish the filibuster, pack the Supreme Court (read: abolish the Constitution), and add new states, we’re going to need some independent-minded senators to refuse to play along. Then, Fetterman’s friendship with Senator McCormick, Senator Britt, and co. could lead to some substantial policy results.

 

But for now? He’s a Democrat. He’s just an eccentric one.