Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) made a virtual appearance at the Republican National Committee midterm convention on Wednesday to support his friend, Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.).“Why am I here talking to you today? Because, well, I’m a common-sense Democrat. I’m always going to stand with America. I’m always going to reject the extremes and socialism and that anti-American way of life,” Fetterman explained in the brief video message introducing and endorsing McCormick.“Dave McCormick is the kind of senator that gets the job done, and he’s going to fight for Pennsylvania. I’m proud to count him as my friend,” Fetterman said. While there have been rumors about Fetterman switching parties, he did not make that announcement in the video. Axios reported earlier on Wednesday that Fetterman would praise both McCormick and President Donald Trump. However, the Pennsylvania Democrat did not explicitly praise Trump. He only mentioned the president in relation to McCormick, who he claimed “will work with President Trump to fight and defend the steel way of life right here in the Steel Valley.”Senator John Fetterman, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, delivers a video message during the first day of the Republican Midterm Convention at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, US, on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesFetterman’s video occurred just partway through the scheduled programming of the two-day convention, which is set to take place from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. Central on Wednesday and Thursday.Fetterman, whose politics have shifted significantly to the right since he joined the Senate in January 2023, is becoming more popular among Republicans and does not typically align with a majority of the Democratic Party. He said last month that he wouldn’t campaign against McCormick, who took office in January 2025, if he runs for a second term in 2030 because of their friendship. Fetterman has explicitly said that he doesn’t plan to switch parties, telling HuffPost in July the only way he’d do so is if Democrats said in their party platform that they “will never support aid for Israel.”In a statement on Wednesday after his RNC appearance, Fetterman doubled down on remaining in the Democratic Party.“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,” said Fetterman.His video cameo comes after a bombshell Wall Street Journal report published last week showed that he skipped out on a meeting with paralyzed veterans to instead appear on Fox News. The report also found that Fetterman was dismissive when officials from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia wanted to meet with him about possible Medicaid cuts.A social media account of anonymous former Fetterman staffers said it plans to release more damning information about the controversial senator soon.“If you were troubled by yesterday’s Wall Street Journal story… trust us, that’s just the tip of the iceberg,” a Friday post said. “It’s even worse than you thought.”Fetterman addressed the report on CNN on Sunday.“Per usual — lies, half-truths, innuendos, smears and anonymous,” he said, referring to it as “smears” by “disgruntled staffers.”