Democratic Sen. John Fetterman to meet with Trump at Mar-a-Lago
WASHINGTON — Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania will be the chamber’s first Democrat to meet President-elect Donald Trump since the election and plans to travel to Trump’s private Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
The trip marks Fetterman’s continued evolution from a leading surrogate for President Joe Biden to a Trump-friendly lawmaker since Trump won the key battleground state of Pennsylvania in November.
Fetterman has since shown surprising warmth toward Trump, complimenting his political appeal, agreeing with him on some policies and embracing some of Trump’s potential Cabinet nominees.
Fetterman said in a statement Thursday that Trump invited him to a meeting and that he accepted.
“I am the senator for all Pennsylvanians – not just Pennsylvania Democrats,” Fetterman said. “I have made it clear that no one is my gatekeeper. I will meet and have a conversation with anyone if it helps me reach Pennsylvania and the nation.”
Fetterman was first chosen in 2022 as an irreverent and unconventional progressive hero who had criticized then-Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia for not voting with Democrats or supporting Biden’s agenda.
Fetterman has not been afraid to be an outsider to his party in the past. He endorsed insurgent Democrat Bernie Sanders in the 2016 presidential primaries over Hillary Clinton and ran from the left against the party-backed candidate in the 2016 Senate primaries. When the state Democratic Party looked to back a candidate in the three-way Democratic primary of 2022, Fetterman dismissed this as an “inside game.”
Last month, Fetterman said on ABC’s “This Week” that he is not leaving the Democratic Party, but that meeting Trump nominees and agreeing with the GOP’s policy views is “part of politics” and “represents the kind of state that we have in Pennsylvania’. .”
He said Democrats’ continued “freak-out” about Trump isn’t helping, calling Trump a “unique political talent” and rejecting the “fascist” label that Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris gave Trump during the campaign.
“It’s not a word I would use,” Fetterman said, adding, “I happen to like people who are going to vote for Trump, and they’re not fascists.”