A trio of concerning reports has cast some serious concern about Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman — and the latest one suggests Democrats may be forced to step in.
On May 2, a New York Magazine report put out some explosive claims casting concern and doubt on the mental well-being of Fetterman.
The alarming claims made by Fetterman’s former chief of staff in an email last year to Walter Reed hospital covered a wide range of concerns, including:
“He eats fast food multiple times a day.”
“We do not know if he is taking his meds and his behavior frequently suggests he is not.”
“We often see the kind of warning signs we discussed,” ex-Fetterman chief of staff Adam Jentleson wrote in the email.
He added: “Conspiratorial thinking; megalomania (for example, he claims to be the most knowledgeable source on Israel and Gaza around but his sources are just what he reads in the news — he declines most briefings and never reads memos); high highs and low lows; long, rambling, repetitive and self centered monologues; lying in ways that are painfully, awkwardly obvious to everyone in the room.”
Just a week after the New York Magazine story, on Friday, NBC News put out a similarly blistering report about Fetterman, describing the senator as “isolated.”
NBC cited one example of Fetterman refusing a meeting with senior Democrat Sen. Patty Murray over his pending approval vote for now-Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
That second report was enough to prompt a response to NBC from a Fetterman representative.
“People in his circle and people who talk to him privately know this is John Fetterman,” the rep said. “He is not an extrovert. This is how he functions. He does care about Pennsylvania, he keeps a busy schedule, he’s meeting with people all the time.
“For the most part, he votes along party lines and has good relationships with his colleagues.
“There are expectations of a stereotypical politician that he has never once expressed that he was going to try to be.
“People knew he was breaking from tradition and they elected him for that reason.”
Now, on Monday, a new report from The Hill suggested that the concerns about Fetterman’s well-being are real enough for Democrats to intervene and help him.
Two Democratic senators told The Hill that “they are talking with colleagues about how to best help Fetterman, who they fear is struggling to cope with the emotional rigors of serving in Congress, a stressful job even for the fittest individuals, who often find themselves the targets of political attack.”
“Every time I see him, I’m worried about him,” one senator noted.
“I worry about [Fetterman’s apparent isolation]. And that means, as friends, we need to step up,” the senator said.
Fetterman, a stroke survivor, has come under frequent Democratic criticism for both his frequent support of GOP causes and his unabashed support for Israel.