Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. John Fetterman reacted Tuesday to what he called a “dumb hit piece” in New York Magazine that cited former staffers who questioned his hardiness for the job amid recent health issues.
Fetterman, who suffered a somewhat debilitating stroke during his 2022 campaign, told Fox News Digital that being attacked in the story that broke late last week was like being “in ‘Goodfellas.’”
“Everyone takes a beating sometimes. It was just a dumb hit piece, and we’ve all moved on,” Fetterman said.
He also claimed former staffer Adam Jentleson, who was quoted by the magazine, must hold a “bizarre grudge” that he would speak so critically of him, as many staffers who have spoken out have expressed irritation at his shift from being a progressive favorite.
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The story said Jentleson, previously a top aide to Sen. Harry M. Reid, D-Nev., wrote to doctors at Walter Reed that Fetterman “frequently exhibits the kind of alarming behavior you told us to look out for when he was discharged and… appears to be off his recovery plan.”
“But that’s where we are, and we all moved on,” Fetterman said Tuesday before stepping into an elevator in a Senate Office Building.
The exposé about Fetterman’s time on Capitol Hill set social media ablaze on Friday.
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The report also raised questions about alleged tensions with his wife, Gisele, over his health regimen, his stance on Israel and her reported run-ins with his staff.
In the article, “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 magazine laid out recollections from current and former staff members like Jentleson, who worked for the Pennsylvania Democrat.
The article relayed several reported instances, including a February 2023 situation at a Democratic caucus retreat at the Library of Congress.
A staffer told the outlet that he received a message questioning how Fetterman was doing, as he was found sitting at a table alone, silently drinking a soda.
The report went on to claim the lawmaker was “nearly struck by a car” and found “wandering” Capitol Hill.
Physicians at George Washington University Hospital later determined he was severely dehydrated and had not had a second stroke as feared, the report claimed.
A reported ensuing discussion with then-Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, found Fetterman to be nearly “catatonic” when Brown tried to talk with him. Soon after, on Feb. 15, he was admitted to Walter Reed Medical Center.
After being discharged, Fetterman “threw himself into” his Senate work and became more vociferous than ever on issues like the Israel-Gaza conflict and other topics that have rankled his Democratic colleagues, according to sources quoted in the article.
Fox News Digital reached out to New York Magazine but did not immediately hear back.
Jentleson declined to comment, but he has been critical of the progressive left as well as of late.
He recently told The Bulwark that some people have been trying to “justify” their “bad choices” when it comes to rhetoric on the Israel-Gaza situation.
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