A Sitting Democratic Senator Turns Up on the Screen at the Republican Midterm Convention — John Fetterman Introduces Dave McCormick, Says He Will "Work With President Trump," and Rejects "the Extremes and Socialism," While Three Pennsylvania Democrats Call Him Lazy and a "Benedict Arnold"

September 10, 2026

On the first night of the Republican Party's midterm convention in Dallas — September 9, 2026 — a one-minute video played on the arena screens in which Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), filmed standing in front of a steel mill, introduced his Pennsylvania colleague Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA) as "a great American and friend." Fetterman said he would "work with President Trump to fight and defend the steel way of life," and rebuked his own party's left flank: "I'm always going to reject the extremes and socialism and that anti-American way of life." McCormick took the stage to ask the crowd, "How great is John Fetterman?" No sitting senator of the opposing party had appeared in a party convention program in modern memory, and the video immediately fueled speculation that Fetterman might switch parties. Fetterman issued a statement the next morning insisting he would not: "I'm a lifelong Democrat who votes overwhelmingly with my party — and should the Senate flip in November, I will still be the 51st vote that I ran on." Pennsylvania Democrats did not take it well. Rep. Chris Deluzio needled him for phoning it in, state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta called him "Benedict Arnold, but lazy," and Rep. Brendan Boyle said the video proved a label he had applied a year earlier.