Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., appears to no longer have the support he once had, with many liberals turning on him following a scathing report focusing on his health.
New York Magazine’s Intelligencer published a lengthy piece Friday titled “All By Himself” which says how Fetterman “insists he is in good health” in the wake of a massive stroke he suffered in May 2022, “but staffers past and present say they no longer recognize the man they once knew.”
Fetterman, once seen as a progressive darling, has earned fanfare from many moderates and conservatives over his pragmatism on various issues.
However, he has made more headlines over his ardent support for Israel following the Oct. 7 terrorist attack by Hamas, which has sparked an outcry from the far-left wing of the Democratic Party, including members of his own staff.
Many conservative critics have taken aim at New York Magazine’s “hit piece” and believe Fetterman’s backing of Israel, which was prominently disseminated in the report, is the reason why liberals are suddenly abandoning him after rallying behind him on the heels of his stroke during the 2022 midterms.
Tech journalist and podcast host Kara Swisher was one of Fetterman’s most vocal defenders after NBC News aired a report shedding light on the severity of his stroke, even taking a personal shot at reporter Dasha Burns (now Politico’s White House bureau chief), who spoke about Fetterman’s cognitive challenges she witnessed and questioned whether he understood what she was saying in small talk following a rare in-person interview at the time.
“Sorry to say but I talked to @JohnFetterman for over an hour without stop or any aides and this is just nonsense. Maybe this reporter is just bad at small talk,” Swisher posted on X in response to Burns.
That wasn’t the attitude Swisher expressed towards New York Magazine correspondent Ben Terris, who authored the report.
“This is so sad and Ben Terris handles it with fairness and empathy,” Swisher wrote on the social media platform Bluesky. “Having had a stroke, I can say meds and self care is key to a good recovery and a great life. This was also so avoidable and the twisting of Fetterman’s massive political skills is painful to read.”
Terris’ New York Magazine colleague Rebecca Traister repeatedly drew attention to his report on her social media accounts, even sharing someone else’s post that quoted the report which read, “One former staffer recalled overhearing Gisele on speakerphone that December saying to Fetterman, ‘Who did I marry? Where is the man I married?’”
But in her own piece profiling Fetterman in October 2022, Traister praised his campaign’s transparency of his medical records and attacked media outlets for “pushing for further documentation with some of the energy once applied to Hillary’s emails” and accused “right-wing carnival barkers” of having “taken cues from the Oz campaign.”
“As someone who has recently interviewed him: Fetterman’s comprehension is not at all impaired,” Traister lectured Burns on X. “He understands everything, it’s just that he reads it (which requires extra acuity, I’d argue) and responds in real time. It’s a hearing/auditory processing challenge.”
Traister expressed sheer excitement over Fetterman’s recovery while calling his GOP opponent Dr. Mehmet Oz’s attacks towards his health “horrifying” during an appearance on MSNBC.
“It was very striking, following his campaign so closely over the past month, to see how swiftly his health was improving and how that improvement was on public display,” Traister said in 2022.
“You could see almost a day by day, and certainly a week over week, improvement in his ability to address crowds, his ability to be loose and his confidence in front of crowds. And that was really striking,” she continued. “And the thing that was striking alongside it was that that visible improvement was happening alongside this building press narrative, certainly on the right wing and also in some major newspapers, about how he was hiding something about his health.”
MSNBC host Chris Hayes sounded the alarm on the “profoundly unnerving” report on the “urgent concerns” those around Fetterman have about his health. But during the 2022 campaign, Hayes called the attacks about Fetterman’s health “gross,” and downplayed his stroke as a serious campaign issue since he’s an “incredibly authentic dude.”
MSNBC contributor Rotimi Adeoye sounded off on the New York Magazine report, writing “The Fetterman story is troubling—not just because of chaotic staff allegations, but because someone clearly still struggling with their mental health shouldn’t be in such a high-stakes role. The only solution is political: Fetterman should resign. PA Dems need a robust primary.”
But in another post after Fetterman was elected, Adeoye declared “Our country is better off because John Fetterman is in the Senate.” Both posts have since been deleted.
Former MSNBC host and Zeteo founder Mehdi Hasan highlighted from the report an email Fetterman’s former chief of staff Adam Jentleson sent Fetterman’s doctor expressing his concerns, saying it “makes clear that Fetterman should not be serving in the Senate.”
“Every Senate Democrat should read this and be asked about it – especially Schumer,” Hasan wrote.
But in Oct. 2022, Hasan posted “Imagine being a sentient human being who really believes John Fetterman can’t be a senator because he had a stroke, but a stroke-free Herschel Walker can be a senator.”
Liberal writer Jill Filipovic praised the report, calling it “well worth a read.”
“Not every person is fit to do every job, and someone with serious mental health challenges who may not be complying with a treatment plan probably shouldn’t be in congress,” Filipovic wrote.
But in October 2022, Filipovic chalked up the impact of Fetterman’s stroke as mere speech impairment.
“I know it’s too much to expect consistency from Republicans, but it’s weird to see them go after Fetterman because his stroke has impaired his speech, but defend Herschel Walker by being like, ‘it’s not his fault he can’t remember the abortions he paid for, he has brain damage.’” Filipovic wrote at the time.
She also praised Fetterman for demonstrating “a kind of courage and gumption rarely seen on the national political stage” following his Senate debate performance against Oz.
“Senator Fetterman routinely drives so recklessly he nearly killed his wife in a car crash,” Democratic activist Armand Domalewski wrote while highlighting an excerpt from the report about a driving accident Fetterman was involved in last year.
That wasn’t the attitude Domalewski always had.
“[D]riving me crazy that Fetterman has to apologize for stumbling over his words after a stroke but we all have to just keep going on normally as if his opponent didn’t TORTURE LITERAL PUPPIES,” Domalewski wrote in October 2022, referencing his Fetterman’s Republican rival Oz.
“Fetterman could be a stumbling drunk who forgets his pants half the time and it wouldn’t matter because Dr Oz literally TORTURED AND KILLED PUPPIES!!!!” he added.
Even after Fetterman won his election, Domalewski was hyping the senator’s political prospects.
“Unless his health takes a dive, Biden is obviously running for re-election, but if he does bow out and Fetterman’s health continues to recover, Big John is clearly a Presidential contender,” Domalewski wrote in November 2022.
