Sen. Fetterman broke silence on article questioning his mental health: 'a dumb hit piece'

Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) responded to criticism hurled by his former aides in the media. Amid rumors questioning his health condition, the Pennsylvania Democrat downplayed the attacks and assured that his former employees who criticized him hold a "strange grudge" against him.

It all started on May 2, when journalist Ben Terris published an article titled "All By Himself: John Fetterman insists he is in good health. But staffers past and present say they no longer recognize the man they once knew."

The text, published in New York Magazine, contains harsh testimony from Adam Jentleson, who served as the senator's chief of staff between 2023 and the spring of 2024. Specifically, he questions Fetterman's health, claiming he was unbalanced, erratic and, above all, different.

"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," Jentleson told Terris.

"Many of the staffers I spoke with are angry. They are troubled. And they are sad. These were some of Fetterman’s truest believers, and they now question his fitness to be a senator. They worry he may present a risk to the Democratic Party and maybe even to himself," the journalist added in his brief.

"Just a dumb hit piece"

In this context, Fetterman decided to respond in an interview with journalist Nicholas Ballasy. He completely dismissed the accusations without elaborating too much, pointing out that it was "just a dumb hit piece, and we’ve all moved on."

About Jentleson, he assured that he holds a "bizarre, bizarre grudge" against him. "As I said, we've all moved on," he added.

On the senator's health, in 2022, he suffered a stroke while campaigning for Senate in Pennsylvania. Despite difficulties during his recovery, he won the election, defeating Republican Mehmet Oz. While in office, he had to be hospitalized for clinical depression.

Since then, he has been performing his job normally. He has lately stood out among his Democratic colleagues for his willingness to work with the Trump administration, even meeting with the president at Mar-a-Lago. Coincidentally, the attacks against him began when he started showing these centrist tendencies.

Chris Cuomo in defense of John Fetterman

Just days after the article was published, journalist and anchor Chris Cuomo dedicated an entire video on his YouTube channel to defending the senator and attacking Democrats.

The current NewsNation anchor was stunned by Democratic attacks on the senator, when in the past, they spent a lot of energy defending him over his health and clothing issues, among other things.

"Did you see that piece in New York Magazine? What a s*** hit piece that was. Federman is right to be befuddled by what's motivating it, but I don't know why. I mean, he's right to feel that way, to feel betrayed, but I see it with clear eyes. His own people are coming after him," Cuomo said.

"Democrats, if you want to win, if you want to build momentum and trust with the majority, you got to stop with the purity tests and the killing of your own for bad reason," he said.