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Politico: GOP Mounting 'Quiet Campaign' To Lure Fetterman Away From Dems

Politico’s Jonathan Martin reported Monday on what he characterized as a quiet Republican effort to convince controversial Sen. John Fetterman to hop the political fence and join their party, laying out the possibility that Fetterman could make such a move despite his public denials.

The Pennsylvania Democrat reaffirmed to Politico that he had no interest in changing his political affiliation. For one, he says he sees himself as a possible kingmaker if Democrats manage to cinch a narrow Senate majority in the midterms.

“If we flip four seats in the Senate, who is the No. 51 for the new majority?” Fetterman asked the outlet, referring to himself.

But Politico noted that he has been spending more and more down time with Republicans in their Senate cloakroom and leadership offices, and that he has developed close friendships with a pair of GOP Senators: Dave McCormick (Pa.) and Katie Britt (Ala.), along with their respective spouses.

As Martin wrote: "This may sound like so much congressional gossip. But the higher one climbs in politics, the more personal it often becomes. That’s never been truer than in the Trump era. It may seem paradoxical given the stakes of the present — massive challenges at home and abroad and a president bent on consolidating power and punishing enemies — but I’ve witnessed the same pattern for the last decade."

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President Donald Trump appears eager to pull Fetterman over. Back in March, when the senator appeared on Sean Hannity’s YouTube show, Hannity said Trump specifically told him that Fetterman would get special treatment if he decided to run as a Republican — Trump’s endorsement and a financial windfall.