WASHINGTON — Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman will become the chamber’s first Democrat to meet with 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 continuing evolution from a leading surrogate for President Joe Biden into a Trump-friendly lawmaker since Trump won the premier battleground state of Pennsylvania in November.
Fetterman since has shown surprising warmth to Trump, complimenting his political appeal, agreeing with him on some policies and embracing some of Trump’s would-be Cabinet nominees.
Fetterman said in a statement Thursday that Trump invited him to meet and that he accepted.
“I’m the Senator for all Pennsylvanians — not just Democrats in Pennsylvania,” Fetterman said. “I’ve been clear that no one is my gatekeeper. I will meet with and have a conversation with anyone if it helps me deliver for Pennsylvania and the nation.”
Fetterman was first elected 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 been unafraid to be an outsider to his party in the past. He endorsed insurgent Democrat Bernie Sanders in 2016’s presidential primary over Hillary Clinton and ran from the left against the party-backed candidate in 2016’s Senate primary. When the state Democratic Party looked to endorse a candidate in 2022’s three-way Democratic primary, Fetterman dismissed it as an “inside game.”
Last month, appearing on ABC’s “This Week,” Fetterman said that he’s not leaving the Democratic Party, but that meeting Trump nominees and agreeing with GOP policy views is “part of politics” and “representing the kind of state that we have in Pennsylvania.”
He said the constant “freak-out” by Democrats over Trump isn’t helpful, he called Trump a “singular political talent” and he disavowed the label “fascist” that Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris had given Trump during the campaign.
“It’s not a word that I would use,” Fetterman said, adding, “I happen to love people that are going to vote for Trump, and they are not fascists.”