'The right is embracing Fetterman': GOP operatives 'shocked' as Dem senator alienates left-wing allies

When Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pennsylvania) was running against GOP nominee Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania's 2022 U.S. Senate race, Republicans attacked him as a leftist ideologue. But even though Fetterman leans liberal/progressive, he has been unpredictable at times.

The Pennsylvania senator, for example, hasn't hesitated to voice his support for Israel during the Israel-Hamas War. And he has called for strictly security on the U.S./Mexico border.

In an article published on February 5, NBC News reporters Allan Smith and Sahil Kapur stress that some Republicans are surprised by how unpredictable Fetterman has been.

READ MORE:'Completely reinvented himself': Ohio Senate hopeful’s former Trump criticisms have 'all been erased'

"In recent weeks," the reporters explain, "people at all levels of the conservative movement — from online influencers to U.S. senators — are suddenly seeing a lot more they like in Fetterman, a member of Congress who was expected by many to be on his party's left flank…. The right is embracing Fetterman as its new favorite Democrat as he has seemingly alienated onetime left-wing allies who see what he's doing now as anywhere from a disappointment to a betrayal."

A GOP operative, presumably interviewed on condition of anonymity, told NBC News, "I'm shocked. I thought he would be the exact opposite and I would hate him."

According to Adam Jentleson, Fetterman’s chief of staff, the senator is showing that he isn't the ideologue that some people on the right accused him of being.

Jentleson told NBC News, "People on both sides of the aisle thought they had John pegged a certain way. It's been interesting to watch people on both sides realize that they were wrong. Some people are mad about it, and others are happy about it. If people are pleasantly surprised to find out that John is not the hard-left socialist he was portrayed as during the campaign, then it's an opportunity to maybe work together and get some things done."

READ MORE: Watch: Fetterman says Santos expulsion should prompt removal of 'much more sinister' Menendez

Read NBC News' full report at this link.