Fetterman Rejects Trump Offer to Switch to Republicans Despite Party Tensions

Republicans led by President Donald Trump want Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman to switch parties. The Democratic senator says he will not do it.

That rejection appears to end a public push for Fetterman to change sides. Still, his chances of re-election as a Democrat look slim.

Fetterman endured a stroke that impaired his speech and ability to process words. In a candid memoir, he described battling depression, getting kicked out of his family home and having suicidal thoughts.

Those struggles dwarf political fights and make him willing to speak freely, including against his own party.

On Fox News, Fetterman pointed to a "communist takeover" in Maine, where Democrats backed far-left Senate candidate Graham Platner with a Nazi tattoo he later covered. He also cited party support for Palestinians and attacks on ICE as signs of an "orgy of socialism."

The hoodie-wearing senator backs Israel strongly, clashing with Democrats who grow hostile to the Jewish state.

Trump told Sean Hannity to relay an offer to Fetterman: run as a Republican, get full support, more money than he could imagine and win big.

Fetterman ignored the pitch but told Politico columnist Jonathan Martin that fellow Democrats act suspicious or standoffish toward him.

After Trump's second-term victory, he invited Fetterman to Mar-a-Lago, the first Senate Democrat to visit the president-elect there. Trump called him impressive and a common-sense person. Fetterman later cast the only Democratic vote to confirm Pam Bondi as attorney general.

He now spends time with GOP lawmakers, including two whose spouses are social friends with his family.

Fetterman notes he votes with Democrats 93 percent of the time, questioning his fit as a Republican.

In a prior Fox News interview, he said: "My voting record actually reflects that I am a Democrat. You know, what's changed me with many of my other colleagues is that I don't agree and I use like extreme rhetoric and say, but I support what I think most Americans should agree with these things. You know, the Democratic Party, you know, we became an open border party, without a doubt. And now that's wrong, and I support to make our border more security, and deport all of the criminals right now. So I can't be a Republican because in many other areas, I disagree on that. So whether if I'm politically homeless or whatever, but I'm staying in my party."

Fetterman flipped the Pennsylvania Senate seat as lieutenant governor, beating Dr. Oz more than three years ago.

His independent streak gives leverage in the narrowly divided Senate. If Democrats flip three seats in November, he could supply the 51st vote.