The saying that politics makes strange bedfellows is being played out in real time.
One is a Republican poised to take back the presidency next week; the other is a Democratic senator from Pennsylvania.
The relationship that has emerged between President-elect Donald Trump and Sen. John Fetterman’s (D-Pa.) has people wondering what exactly is happening, The Hill reported.
Since the Nov. 5 election, Fetterman has met with Trump while criticizing his fellow Democrats on certain issues.
“I wouldn’t 100% rule out that maybe or slightly there is some thinking about different or future opportunities,” Eddie Vale, a longtime Democratic strategist, said.
Others are just not sure why Fetterman has taken the stances he has.
“There’s no telling with any certainty what Fetterman’s motivations are. I do political analysis, not psychoanalysis,” Norman Solomon, a progressive strategist and founder of the activist network RootsAction, said. “But clearly, he has been moving rightward.”
There has been speculation as to if Fetterman may have a role in the Trump administration — especially since the two met at Mar-a-Lago.
After the meeting, Trump called Fetterman “a fascinating man.”
One political strategist said this could all be a planned move by Trump to have a Democratic ally on Capitol Hill.
“If you’re willing to put the country first I’m willing to work with you,” Ford O’Connell said about Trump’s thinking. “That’s what he’s been projecting.”
According to a Trump transition official, the two talked about Israel, the U.S.-Mexico border and the future of steel manufacturing.
“He’s a commonsense person. He’s not liberal or conservative,” Trump said about Fetterman, who has been able to adapt to any situation.
“He’s accurately read the room and knows there’s a new sheriff in town,” Christopher Nicholas, a Pennsylvania-based GOP consultant and publisher of the PA Political Digest newsletter Nicholas said. “He’s very adroit at shocking people and then coming back with a retort when they seem shocked. It’s his modus operandi.”
But the motive behind what Fetterman does may not be as complicated as people may think.
“[The] simplest answer is just what he is saying,” Vale said.
“He is a senator from a 50/50 state that voted for Trump twice, so he’s trying to have a foot in both worlds,” he said.
