John Fetterman’s current and former staffers have lashed out at their boss, claiming the Pennsylvania Senator is not well and has behave erratically since being treated for depression.
The Democrat has been seen by many as a member of his party made for the Trump era and he has even made overtures toward his political enemies since the inauguration.
However, a bombshell story in New York Magazine features several concerning accusations about Fetterman’s behavior, including not taking medicine prescribed after he spent time in a mental health facility in 2023.
Only one staffer would go public with the claims and Fetterman has personally denied them. Some of the anonymous staffers shared marital strife and political disagreements with his wife Gisele.
Former Chief of Staff Adam Jentleson is the most public face of the story, titled ‘The Hidden Struggle of John Fetterman.’
One year after Fetterman’s release from the traumatic-brain-injury and neuropsychiatry unit at Walter Reed Hospital, Jentleson wrote a letter the division’s director who treated Fetterman there.
‘I think John is on a bad trajectory and I’m really worried about him,’ Jentleson wrote in the 1,600-word email with the subject line: ‘Concerns.’
He added that the senator ‘won’t be with us for much longer’ if he doesn’t change his behavior, with Jentleson claiming these are ‘the things you said to flag, so I am flagging.’
John Fetterman’s current and former staffers have lashed out at their boss, claiming the Pennsylvania Senator is not well and has behave erratically since being treated for depression
The Democrat has been seen by many as a member of his party made for the Trump era and he has even made overtures toward his political enemies since the inauguration
One of the things he was told to flag: that Fetterman purchased a gun, though Jentleson admits the senator ‘takes all the necessary precautions, and living where he does I understand the desire for personal protection.’
Jentleson is referring to the hard-scrabble small town of Braddock where Fetterman served as mayor and still lives.
Fetterman is accused of everything from the physical – ‘not taking his meds’ to eating fast food multiple times a day – to the mental – lying, ‘self-centered monologues,’ ‘conspiratorial thinking; megalomania’ – among his issues.
The senator is also allegedly obsessed with social media despite admitting it was an ‘accelerant’ of his depression and driving ‘recklessly’ to the point that staffers refused to ride with him and a police officer said it was ‘a miracle no one died’ after one accident last June.
Jentleson also argued that ‘every person who was supposed to help him stay on his recovery plan has been pushed out.’
The former chief of staff later said in an interview a year after writing the letter that he’s telling his side of the story because he believes Fetterman’s trajectory has taken him out of consideration to lead the Democrats going forward.
‘Part of the tragedy here is that this is a man who could be leading Democrats out of the wilderness but I also think he’s struggling in a way that shouldn’t be hidden from the public.’
Quite the opposite, as The Intercept recently reported that Fetterman’s campaign is bleeding money and losing small-dollar donors ever since his meeting with Trump.
Former Chief of Staff Adam Jentleson (pictured) is the most public face of the story
The former chief of staff added that the senator ‘won’t be with us for much longer’ if he doesn’t change his behavior, with Jentleson claiming these are ‘the things you said to flag, so I am flagging’
The author, Ben Terris, spoke to Fetterman ahead of publication and got a text message from him asking: ‘Why is this a story?
He added that the number of staffers leaving is typical for Washington and he is the ‘best version’ of himself right now.
Fetterman also denied claims that towards the beginning of his first term, he had to be spoken with for ‘an hour’ with staffers ‘trying to trying to convince him, to talk him out of some crazy fantasy’ that he wouldn’t be allowed in the Senate.
He also said there is no truth to accusations that he began to ‘sour’ on his own party after bipartisan efforts to prevent him from wearing his trademark hoodie and shorts to the Senate floor.
Things became somewhat more complicated when asked about arguments over Gaza and meeting with Donald Trump with his wife Gisele, herself having come to the U.S. as an illegal migrant.
Fetterman called their disagreements ‘very common in political marriage’ and said Gisele ‘has her own voice.
Gisele, for her part, told New York Magazine that Jentleson is trying to harm her husband and lied to her about his health.
‘I would talk to John’s doctors about what Adam was telling me and they would be confused. Those doctors would tell me that their concerns were not with John, but with Adam,’ she said.
The author, Ben Terris, had a tense interview with the senator
Only one staffer would go public with the claims and Fetterman (pictured left) has personally denied them. Some of the anonymous staffers shared marital strife and political disagreements with his wife Gisele (pictured right)
Jentleson, who stepped down from his position in February 2024, replied to Gisele’s comments: ‘I stand by everything I said, and I hope Senator Fetterman gets the help he needs.’
Things got more tense when Terris asked whether Fetterman wanted to comment on what was supposedly coming out of his camp.
The politician – who beat out Republican Mehmet Oz back in 2022 – responded with a resounding ‘no.’ He went on to eye two of his staffers, Terris said – recalling how Fetterman then adjourned for an abrupt break.
First, though, he offered the reporter some stern words.
He claimed that no one in his staff would know about his personal health situation and that anyone claiming otherwise was merely misinformed.
‘There’s not really anything to respond when that’s just not accurate,’ he said, shortly after fielding a question about Trump’s mental faculties.
Terris, however, pressed on – saying that these former staffers told him ‘they’ve witnessed ups and downs that could be associated with kind of a relapse.
‘They also worry that the medication that you’re on is not just for depression, but more serious drugs that if you’re not on them would be a problem,’ Terris added.
Jentleson (pictured) also argued that ‘every person who was supposed to help him stay on his recovery plan has been pushed out’
One of the things Jentleson was told to flag: that Fetterman purchased a gun, though Jentleson admits the senator ‘takes all the necessary precautions, and living where he does I understand the desire for personal protection’
‘Is there truth to that?’
At this point, Fetterman – who suffered a stroke whilst running against Oz – declared he had nothing to comment, before bringing the conversation off the record for the next few minutes.
Jentleson adds that the shocking stroke Fetterman suffered doesn’t mean the senator has to be this way permanently.
‘He’s not locked into a downward trajectory; he could get back in treatment at any time, and for a long time I held out hope that he would. But it’s just been too long now, and things keep getting worse.’
Terris was reportedly left out in a hallway with a few of Fetterman’s aides after initially questioning him but was eventually let back in.
Fetterman sat in the same chair but was now ‘slumped into himself,’ he noticed – comparing the senator who checked himself into Walter Reed in 2023 to receive treatment for depression to ‘a deflated parade float.’
‘He avoided looking at me,’ Terris further claimed, before breaking the silence.
‘Anything to say about that?’ he asked, referring to his earlier inquiry.
‘There’s not anyone that you’re referencing who would be privy to my medical history,’ Fetterman insisted again, before being asked whether he cared to comment on whether the unnamed staffers were right or wrong.
Fetterman – whose politics were once more aligned with those of Bernie Sanders before an apparent shift right in recent months – framed the insight as rumors from ‘disgruntled’ former staffers.
When asked why these employees may have been disgruntled, Fetterman shot back, ‘For whatever reason.’
‘There’s a lot of people who just hide behind unnamed sources in articles,’ he added.
The exchange ended there, with the interview ending minutes later.
‘I feel like there’s been kind of a tone shift here,’ Terris told Fetterman as the interview waned, attempting to catch the senator’s eye.
‘Can you tell me what you’re feeling? What you’re thinking?’
The question spurred the senator to finally look at him, Terris recalled – before remembering Fetterman’s response.
‘No, everything’s great,’ he said, reportedly with little emotion. ‘Everything’s great. I don’t know what you’re referencing.’
DailyMail.com has reached out to Fetterman for comment.
During a sunnier point in the sit-down, Fettered offered some insight into his now notorious Mar-a-Lago meeting with the president – a summit that made him the first sitting Democrat to visit the then freshly sworn in conservative.
He said the January meeting went smoothly, lasting around 75 minutes.
Fetterman also said it strengthened his belief that Trump’s mental acumen is as strong as ever.
‘His faculties haven’t slipped at all,’ he told the magazine, keeping course with his recent infatuation with the Republican.’
‘It’s not that I admire it – I acknowledge it, and if you don’t, you do it at your own peril politically.’
He added how he now advocating for Trump to cut off nuclear negotiations with Iran – and get to dropping bombs on the country instead.
Fetterman, 55, is a staunch Israel ally. There have also been public disagreements with staff and fellow Democrats over such policies – as well as legitimate reports of a high turnover in Fetterman’s office since he was elected.
