Fetterman has a Freudian slip, calls himself a ‘lifelong Republican’ before correcting himself

WASHINGTON, DC: Senator John Fetterman, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, slipped up during a conversation with CBS News’ Major Garrett at the Texas Tribune Festival in Austin on Saturday, September 26.

While talking about his political future, he accidentally called himself "a lifelong Republican." Garrett jumped in to correct him, and Fetterman laughed off the mistake, acknowledging what he had just said.

John Fetterman gives no clear answer about possible 51st-vote role

The slip happened as Fetterman was discussing his political future.

When asked how he’d position himself if Democrats win back control of the Senate in November, possibly making him the crucial 51st vote on close legislation, he chose not to give a clear answer.

"Because I've, I'm a lifelong uh Republican," Fetterman said at one point, prompting Garrett to interject with a correction: "Democrat."

Fetterman immediately laughed off the error, saying, "That's... That's a moment right there. That's clippable, ladies and gentlemen.”

“Circulate. Go, go, go. Internet, spin wildly. Wildly spin internet," he said, before adding, "Yeah, I guarantee you that's going to break through. That'll get that'll get clipped. Yeah, I'm a lifelong Democrat though."

On the question of a potential 51st-vote role, Fetterman said, “Let’s revisit after the midterms, and let’s see what happens, you know, if I happen to be 51. I don’t know.”

John Fetterman insists he remains a Democrat

Garrett kept at it, asking if Fetterman sees himself leaving the Democratic Party down the road, especially since he’s opposed his fellow Democrats several times already. He brought up the senator's votes against Iran war powers resolutions and his refusal to support cutting off aid to Israel as examples.

Earlier this month, Fetterman faced criticism from his colleagues after he appeared in a video at the GOP’s midterm convention in Dallas, in which he introduced Pennsylvania’s GOP Sen Dave McCormick as a “great friend.”

“I’m not going to be a Republican,” he told reporters on Capitol Hill. “Why can’t you guys just wait till the midterms? And if I turn a Republican, then I’ll be a liar. My name is not on the ballot. Chill.” 

Fetterman renewed his commitment to remaining within the Democratic Party again on Saturday. “I’ve said I have no path as a Republican. That’s a fact,” he said.

Fetterman claimed his views on those topics fit squarely within the party’s mainstream and pointed out that, unlike some other Democrats who have sparked controversy with their "extreme" views, he stays well within the boundaries.

"Why is people like whether if it was Platner or El-Sayed that have said extreme views and extreme kinds of thing… they're communists and they wipe their mouth with the American flag and say that America is the problem,” he said.