When Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman was hospitalized for depression in 2023, many Capitol Celebrated it as a moment of courage and a desire to be open to mental health struggles.
Now, a surprising image of the relapse and its associated cost is associated with him after a profile deeply original on Fetterman was published on Friday in the intelligence of New York magazine by journalist Ben Terris.
Democrats On Capitol Hill, I have not yet commented. But the shock of profile reports was obvious on social media and political conversation programs.
“He must resign”, The numbers Jonathan Last, a supporter of the senator who wrote that he “was the first person to suggest that John Fetterman could come to the presidency,” said on The secret podcast With co-host Sarah Longwell.
Longwell, who accepted, described the revelations of the “end of career” play.
In the play, Terris largely quotes the former chief of staff to Fetterman, the veteran of Capitol Hill, Adam Jentleson. He is also based on the statements of current and former employees of the senator's office who describe a man who has harassed by the challenges of his office and has trouble accepting the help he may still need to recover fully.
Fetterman, who has undergone a stroke in the last months of his race in 2022 for the Senate, won a victory that is very necessary for the Democrats, even after a debate performance clearly indicated that he was still suffering from disastrous auditory treatment and speaking problems.
But its recovery inspired a lot on the hill and in the country. Although it continues to rely to a certain extent on hearing transcription devices during conversations, it remains capable of speaking in press and in interviews.
In private, however, things would be much less encouraging. For the first time, New York Magazine reported that the senator was involved in a serious car wreck in May or June 2024, who injured his wife Gisele, after ignoring the concerns of staff members and driving, then fell asleep. A video of him arguing with a commercial aircraft pilot on the visibility of his seat belt resurfaced this weekend after the publication of the profile.
And there are other interactions between the senator and those around him New York magazine Profile and other sources that turn the heads, including so-called frequent and heated personal exchanges with his wife, Gisele Fetterman, on the headquarters of Israel of Gaza and other problems.
The independent Contacted Fetterman's office on Sunday to comment on the profile.
John Fetterman continues to fight to recover from struggles with depression, according to New York magazine (AFP via Getty Images)
According to Terris, Fetterman continues to fight with the burden of his office and in January, a few days after the inauguration of Trump, melted with discouragement whether or not to support Pete Hegseth,, Donald TrumpSecretary of Defense, now packaged. Before the vote, the senator, according to a staff member, raised the possibility of abandoning DC and refusing to vote. He also “spent part of the day locked in his office, fighting with Gisele and crying during the postman with the staff,” said Terris reports.
“My non-voting on Pete Hegseth talks about himself. The rest is a pure conjecture,” Fetterman told Terris about the anecdote above.
The behavior led Jentleson, who had resigned as chief of staff of months earlier, to write a letter to the senator's doctors before his car wreck in the summer of 2024, warning them of his increasingly unstable and reckless behavior. Jentleson wrote that he saw clear signs of Fetterman back on his resumption of mental health.
Gisele Fetterman, for his part, told New York magazine in a statement that Jentleson had told him “scary and false stories about John's health” and qualified his plot letter to harm her husband's political reputation.
This reputation can be in tatters after 2025. His votes to confirm several of Trump's candidates, including Bondi For the Attorney General, were the signs of ultimate betrayal for many Democrats. The extent of his enthusiasm for the Israeli military campaign in Gaza was apparent and pulled a new wave of disgusted convictions progressive Through Twitter and Bluesky, his criticism accusing the senator of having fueled a fervor for carnage. Fetterman denied this to New York magazine.
“John Fetterman does not deserve sympathy. He has always been racist. Pittsburgh And Braddock remembers that he pulled a weapon on a black jogger and holding him hostage, “wrote Tanisha Long, an activist based in Pittsburgh, on Twitter, Referring to a 2013 incident.
But most of the reactions through democratic circles during the weekend were shocked by the extent of the undeclared problems with which the senator is confronted, including discussions on the conservation of the cognitive faculties and the stability necessary to hold his functions. Some thought that the concerns were clearly exaggerated.
Fetterman often engages with journalists on Capitol Hill (Getty Images)
“A despicable success on @johnfetterman – I would like to have been surprised that whoever publishes an obvious vendetta: the medical journey of a man. What a strange medical harassment,” wrote Synema KyrstenA former Democratic senator from Arizona.
“This should not require mental illness so that politicians of the Democratic Party escape group iron grip – thinking – Fetterman should come back to his drugs to own the enemies and have a long and successful career, other DEMS should ask what they can learn from what worked for him,” added a blogger and a perennial central -left gadfly.
But many others removed from the room and understanding that Fetterman remains clearly disputed by his continuous mental health problems and the rapid rhythm of politics in the second Trump.
“The story of Fetterman is disturbing – not only because of the allegations of chaotic staff, but because someone who clearly fights with his mental health should not be in such a high role. Philadelphia-The -based democratic operations that previously worked as a member of Senator staff at the time, Bob Casey. He added: “Pa Dems needs a robust primary.”
“This email, a year ago, from the former chief of staff to Fetterman, and this whole piece by Ben Terris, clearly shows that Fetterman should not serve in the Senate,” said progressive commentator Medhi Hasan. “Each Senate Democrat should read this and be questioned about this – in particular Schumer.”
Still others hoped that the fallout from the saga would not harm the senator's family any more.
Will Stancil, a centrist blogger and former Congress candidate, simply said: “My God the play Fetterman. His wife needs to leave. My heart really breaks for her.”
