Fetterman slips up on stage at the Texas Tribune Festival and calls himself ‘a lifelong Republican’: ‘That will get clipped’

An audience member at the Texas Tribune Festival on Saturday asked Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., why he does not run as an independent. Fetterman answered by calling himself a “lifelong Republican,” then appeared to catch the wording.

“Because I’m a lifelong Republican,” he said. After the slip, he added, “I guarantee you that will break through. That will get clipped.” The line drew a wave of laughter from the room. He then said he has no reason to leave the Democratic Party and no plan to join the GOP.

Earlier in the same event, Fetterman gave a keynote in which he criticized both major parties. When he returned to the idea of switching sides, he said he does not have a reason to become a Republican.

Fetterman ties his party choice to Israel and a clash inside the Democratic tent

“I don’t have a reason to,” he said of joining Republicans. He followed that by saying, “But for a big-tent situation, it’s easier to be included in that big tent to say America deserved 9/11 or America is worse than Al-Qaida than being very proud to stand on the side of Israel.” Fetterman’s political gestures have sometimes crossed party lines, as when he made a surprise video appearance at the GOP convention.

He also said he has “no path as a Republican.” At the same time, he said some Democrats are frustrated that he works with the other party.

He told the audience the Democratic Party is free to push him out. “If the Democratic Party votes me out or expels me, they’re always entitled to do that,” he said.

Fox News pointed out that talk of a party switch has followed him for months. He had floated leaving his caucus, and Republicans have said they would welcome him. That talk grew after he posted a video introducing Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa., at the Republican National Committee’s midterm convention earlier this month. Fetterman has repeatedly pushed back against negative portrayals, as when he slammed a Wall Street Journal exposé depicting him as apathetic.

Fetterman has still said he is a Democrat. That stance has held even as some Democrats have pressed to cut him loose from the Senate. He entered the Senate after beating Dr. Mehmet Oz in a close 2022 race. That win helped Democrats keep a thin majority. He ran that campaign on a progressive platform.

His record since then has put him at odds with parts of his own party. Earlier this year, he warned he would leave the Democrats if the party became more locked into anti-Israel positions. He has also criticized the party’s midterm direction as far-left progressives, including Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan, have risen as leading voices.