Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) has moved to dispel concerns that he is planning on leaving the Democratic Party while Republicans are now fully in control of the federal government.
In an interview with Semafor on Monday evening, Fetterman called the rumors circulating on social media “amateur hour shit.”
The senator explained that he has no plans to follow in the footsteps of former Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) or Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.), who switched their party affiliation, registering as independents.
“It’s not gonna happen,” Fetterman said. “And even if I wanted to do that, that is a rocket sled to Palookaville to try to switch. I would make a pretty bad Republican.”
While many of his fellow party members have criticized President Donald Trump, with some even skipping his inauguration ceremony, Fetterman visited Trump at Mar-a-Lago earlier this month, becoming the first known Democrat to meet with him following his November victory.
“President Trump invited me to meet, and I accepted. I’m the Senator for all Pennsylvanians — not just Democrats in Pennsylvania,” Fetterman said in a statement ahead of that meeting.
Trump described their sit-down as “fascinating” in an interview with the Washington Examiner, adding that he was “impressed” by the senator and his wife, Gisele.
“He’s a commonsense person. He’s not liberal or conservative. He’s just a commonsense person, which is beautiful,” Trump said of Fetterman.
Fetterman also downplayed the adverse effects a second Trump term would bring, telling ABC News in December that he is rooting for Trump’s success.
“If you’re rooting against the president, you are rooting against the nation,” he said. “I’m not ever going to be where I want a president to fail.”
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Trump won the key battleground of Pennsylvania by nearly two percentage points in November.
Fetterman has garnered praise from some GOP lawmakers over his unconditional support for Israel in its war in Gaza. The senator has also signaled he will support some of Trump’s Cabinet picks, including Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), who has been nominated to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.