Fetterman’s 2028 VP talk stuns aides amid turmoil

Fetterman stuns – Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) told staff he could be the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2028, a suggestion that stunned aides amid his deep unpopularity in the party. A separate report also describes an unpaid adviser with outsized influence in his inner

When Sen. John Fetterman floated the idea that he could be the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2028, several aides weren’t just surprised—they were stunned, according to a report that says the reaction in the room was immediate.

Last summer. Fetterman convened a rare meeting with senior staff to talk through his political future. with the presidency still intriguing to him—four staffers say he used to openly discuss running for president. But after what was described as a bruising stretch. he moved toward something more plausible: the vice presidency on the Democratic Party’s 2028 presidential ticket.

One person who was in the room recalled aides saying, “Are you out of your f***ing mind? You don’t do your job, you can’t raise any money, and your entire party hates you.”

The blowback is tied to the widening gap between Fetterman and much of his own party. His net approval rating among Pennsylvania Democrats has dropped 108 points since 2023, falling from plus 68 to minus 40, according to CNN. The report describes that shift as fueling rumors that he might switch parties. even as Fetterman has insisted that. despite occasional disagreements with his party. he will remain a Democrat.

The timing matters because the political pressure in Washington is rising. The GOP controls the Senate 53-47, but that majority is described as in jeopardy ahead of November’s midterms. To wrest control of the upper chamber, Democrats would need a net gain of four seats.

The vice-presidential talk lands amid another burst of disruption inside Fetterman’s orbit. The report comes a day after it was reported that the senator’s chief of staff quit. It was described as the third chief-of-staff departure since Fetterman took office in 2023. following what the report characterizes as a mass exodus from the office during his first-term tenure.

In the middle of that churn. another figure has come into focus: an unpaid adviser named David “Dovi” Safier. described in the report as “a writer of Jewish history and fundraiser for Orthodox causes.” The publication says Safier has no known experience in government. let alone advising members of Congress. One Fetterman staffer told the publication that Safier “just kind of appeared” in Fetterman’s inner circle a few years ago.

The report describes Safier’s growing access as giving him an unusually large influence. It says that when Safier is on Capitol Hill. he will “hang out and sit in Fetterman’s office all day or walk with him to the floor. ” and that after their conversations. Fetterman would appear “far more radicalized. ” according to a former staffer. The usual office chatter. the report says. is: “Oh God. Safier is here. and now John’s not gonna go to any of his meetings.”.

The report also says Fetterman had several calls with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and that Fetterman always listens in.

All of it—Fetterman’s sharp approval decline among Democrats. the abrupt departures in his office. the influence attributed to Safier. and now the stunning suggestion of a 2028 ticket—has deepened the questions around where the senator’s political standing is headed next. Republicans, the report says, have reportedly tried to woo him into switching parties in recent weeks.

For now. Fetterman’s public position remains unchanged: despite occasional disagreements with his party. he has insisted he will remain a Democrat. But the account of what was said inside his inner circle last summer suggests the senator’s path is not simply being debated—it’s being argued over. and in stark terms.

John Fetterman Democratic Party 2028 vice presidential nominee Pennsylvania Democrats Senate majority chief of staff quit David Dovi Safier Netanyahu calls U.S. politics