Fetterman Calls Himself a 'Lifelong Republican' by Mistake, Says Democrats Have More Room for '9/11' Comments Than Israel Support

Since Fetterman's surprise video praising Sen. Dave McCormick at the Republican National Committee's Dallas convention on September 9, speculation about his party loyalty has kept building. His Saturday appearance at the Texas Tribune Festival in Austin added a new layer, and this time it wasn't just his votes doing the talking.

During a closing keynote interview with CBS News' Major Garrett, an audience member asked Fetterman why he doesn't just register as an independent. His answer, before he caught himself: "Because I'm a lifelong Republican." He immediately put his hand to his head, according to the Texas Tribune, and said, "I guarantee you that will break through. That will get clipped."

He corrected the record on the spot, saying he has "no path as a Republican" and no reason to leave the Democratic Party. But the slip landed on a day when Fetterman was already making the case that his own party has drifted further from him than he has from it.

The 9/11 Comment

Fetterman told Garrett that Democrats' "big tent" now has more room for people who say America "deserved 9/11" or that America is "worse than Al-Qaida" than for Democrats who strongly back Israel. He was referencing streamer Hasan Piker, who made the "deserved 9/11" remark in a 2019 livestream and later said he "obviously" didn't believe it, according to Fox News. Fetterman pointed to the size of Piker's recent Austin crowd as evidence of where the left's energy is concentrated.

"More and more members of my caucus are becoming more and more anti-Israel," Fetterman said, citing recent Senate votes on Israeli military assistance.

The numbers back up part of his claim. A Pew Research Center survey from March found 80% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents now hold an unfavorable view of Israel, up from 53% in 2022. Fetterman has said he'd leave the party only if it formally became "the anti-Israel party."

A poll conducted September 15 to 21 by The Philadelphia Inquirer, The New York Times, and Siena University, surveying 615 likely Pennsylvania voters, found 47% view Fetterman unfavorably against 42% favorably. Fifty-seven percent said they now see him more as a Republican than a Democrat. Separately, nearly two-thirds of Pennsylvania Democrats specifically view him unfavorably, according to reporting on the same survey.

Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chair Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., pushed back on any suggestion Fetterman should be pushed out. "I'm very grateful that Sen. Fetterman is serving in the U.S. Senate as a Democrat, and I think he will continue to do so," she said.

The Anger Back Home

NPR's Barbara Sprunt attended an anti-Trump demonstration in Allentown where Fetterman's name, not Trump's, came up unprompted. "I voted for him. I donated money to his campaign," said Vick Lindquist. "I feel like I've been stabbed in the back as a Pennsylvanian." Rod Dougherty of the Lehigh Valley cited a Wall Street Journal report claiming Fetterman has skipped hearings and constituent meetings, saying, "He should pack up his bags and go."

NPR noted it had not independently verified the Journal's reporting, and Fetterman's office did not respond to NPR's request for comment. Fetterman himself told CNN the Journal story was "lies, half-truths, innuendos, smears and anonymous." A Philadelphia Inquirer editorial board piece separately called him a lazy senator, a characterization Fetterman disputes by pointing to spending and infrastructure projects he says he delivered for Pennsylvania, including work done in coordination with the Trump administration.

A senator can vote against his own caucus on Israel, government funding, or Trump nominees without being absent from the job. Fetterman argues his record of delivered projects proves he's still working, even if he's not showing up the way critics want.

Asked directly what he'd do if Democrats flip the Senate and he becomes the deciding 51st vote, Fetterman again declined to commit. "Let's revisit after the midterm and see what happens if I happen to be 51," he said. Republicans currently hold 53 seats. He also said he's still deciding on a 2028 reelection bid, adding, "I am fundraising with that as the possibility."

The unresolved question heading into November: whether Pennsylvania Democrats, nearly two-thirds of whom now view him unfavorably per the Inquirer/Times/Siena poll, treat that dissatisfaction as a reason to primary him in 2028, or whether Fetterman's cross-party appeal makes him unbeatable in a general election regardless of what his own base thinks.