Senate Republicans — and One Democrat — Speak Out in Defense of John Fetterman After Report Exposes Shocking Health Concerns
Ben Curtis/AP
New York Democrat Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) defended Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) against recent reports about his health and erratic behavior, suggesting the Pennsylvania Democrat was the target of a smear campaign over his staunchly pro-Israel rhetoric. Torres, who himself has been a fierce advocate of Israel since the October 7th attacks, joined several Republican Senators in defending Fetterman.
New York Magazine published a bombshell story in early May documenting multiple accounts of worrying behavior from Fetterman retold by former and current staffers. The report included a 2024 letter from Fetterman’s former chief of staff, Adam Jentleson, to a neuropsychiatrist treating Fetterman following his stroke. In the letter, Jentleson described alarming behavior from the senator, including going off his medications, not following his recovery plan, and engaging in “long, rambling, repetitive and self-centered monologues.”
“We do not know if he is taking his meds, and his behavior frequently suggests he is not,” Jentleson wrote. “We often see the kind of warning signs we discussed: 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, such as swearing up and down that he didn’t say something everyone heard him say a few minutes prior.”
The report was followed by several other headlines regarding Fetterman, including about a recent meeting with union leaders that went off the rails. The AP reported that Fetterman shouted and banged his hands on a table, saying, “everybody is mad at me,” later adding, “why does everyone hate me, what did I ever do?”
Torres took aim at the reporting and wrote on X, “I know a hit piece when I see one. The only reason for the coordinated campaign against Senator John Fetterman is his unapologetic pro-Israel politics. Let’s call it what it is.”
“As someone who has struggled with depression my whole adult life, I can tell you that if you truly care about someone’s mental health, leaking hit pieces against them is a strange way of showing it,” added Torres, who has long been open about his struggles with mental health.
Torres’s post followed Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), who wrote, “John Fetterman and I have our differences, but he’s a decent and genuine guy. The radical left is smearing him with dishonest, vicious attacks because he’s pro-Israel, and they only want reliable anti-Israel politicians. Disgraceful.”
Fetterman’s Republican counterpart in Pennsylvania, Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA), also jumped in, writing, “It’s time to put politics aside and stop these vicious, personal attacks against Senator Fetterman, his wife, and his health. While we have many differences, we are both committed to working together to achieve results for the people of Pennsylvania and make their lives better. He is authentic, decent, principled, and a fighter. These disgraceful smears against him are not the John that I know and respect.”
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) added, “The media ought to lay off Senator Fetterman.”
