Latest news with #AdamJentleson
Daily Mail
14-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
John Fetterman's top aides abandon him amid spiraling health fears
Ailing Senator John Fetterman continues to hemorrhage staffers as two more top aides bailed just before the recent series of reports alleging his health is deteriorating. A blockbuster New York Magazine feature painted the Pennsylvania Senator as not well and behaving erratically since being treated for depression. Further tales have been published since, including an old video of Fetterman behaving poorly on a plane and driving a staffer to tears with an outburst during a meeting with union representatives. As Democrat leadership ponders what to do, two more key aides have departed Fetterman's staff. Madeleine Marr and Caroline Shaffer departed shortly before the earth-shattering feature on the Senator, which quoted several anonymous staffers. The pair were listed as legislative assistants for Fetterman and had been with him since early 2023 when he took office. In the past 18 months, Fetterman has lost several communications staffers, a legislative director and his former chief of staff Adam Jentleson, who went on the record about his concerns for his ex-boss' health in the New York Magazine story. has reached out to Senator Fetterman for comment. Ailing Senator John Fetterman continues to hemorrhage staffers as two more top aides bailed just before the recent series of reports alleging his health is deteriorating A blockbuster New York Magazine feature painted the Pennsylvania Senator as not well and behaving erratically since being treated for depression At least two liberal Senators admitted there are strategy meetings in an attempt to assist the ailing Fetterman. One Senate Democrat said they had been 'involved in discussions' about how best to help him, adding that they 'are worried about his safety.' A report by New York Magazine citing several individuals who made concerning accusations against him and claimed he was not taking his medication. Only one staffer was willing to go public with the claims and Fetterman has 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.' 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.'
Wall Street Journal
12-05-2025
- Health
- Wall Street Journal
The Smearing of John Fetterman
Adam Jentleson sent an email to the medical director of the traumatic-brain-injury and neuropsychiatry unit at Walter Reed hospital in May 2024. Sen. John Fetterman, for whom Mr. Jentleson was chief of staff, had been released from the facility in May 2023 following six weeks of inpatient care for what his doctors diagnosed as clinical depression. A year earlier, in May 2022, Mr. Fetterman had suffered a stroke while running for the Senate seat he eventually won. Healthwise, it had been a difficult two years for the Pennsylvania Democrat, who had become known for flouting the Senate dress code as much as for his policy positions. Mr. Jentleson, according to a report in New York magazine, was once 'proud' of his boss for seeking professional help. He later became so 'alarmed' by Mr. Fetterman's behavior that he quit his job. According to the 1,600-word email Mr. Jentleson sent to Mr. Fetterman's doctor, the senator was suffering from 'conspiratorial thinking' and 'megalomania' while experiencing 'high highs and low lows.' In 'long, rambling, repetitive and self-centered monologues,' Mr. Fetterman was 'lying in ways that are painfully, awkwardly obvious to everyone in the room.' Mr. Jentleson also said the senator was 'preoccupied' with Twitter and driving 'recklessly.'
CBS News
10-05-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Sen. John Fetterman raises alarms with outburst at meeting with union officials, AP sources say
Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was meeting last week with representatives from a teachers union in his home state when things quickly devolved. Before long, Fetterman began repeating himself, shouting and questioning why "everybody is mad at me," "why does everyone hate me, what did I ever do," and slamming his hands on a desk, according to one person briefed on what occurred. As the meeting deteriorated, a staff member moved to end it and ushered the visitors into the hallway, where she broke down crying. The staffer was comforted by the teachers who were themselves rattled by Fetterman's behavior, according to a second person briefed separately on the meeting. The interaction at Fetterman's Washington office, described to The Associated Press by the two people who spoke about it on the condition of anonymity, came the day before New York Magazine published a story in which former staff and political advisers to Fetterman aired concerns about the senator's mental health. That story included a 2024 letter, also obtained by the AP, in which Fetterman's one-time chief of staff Adam Jentleson told a neuropsychiatrist who had treated Fetterman for depression that the senator appeared to be off his recovery plan and was exhibiting alarming behavior, including a tendency toward "long, rambling, repetitive and self-centered monologues." Asked about the meeting with teachers union representatives, Fetterman said in a statement through his office that they "had a spirited conversation about our collective frustration with the Trump administration's cuts to our education system." He also said he "will always support our teachers, and I will always reject anyone's attempt to turn Pennsylvania's public schools into a voucher program." Fetterman earlier this week brushed off the New York Magazine story as a "one-source hit piece and some anonymous sources, so there's nothing new." Asked by a reporter in a Senate corridor what he would say to people who are concerned about him, Fetterman said: "They're not. They're actually not concerned. It's a hit piece. There's no news." Reached by telephone, Aaron Chapin, the president of the Pennsylvania State Education Association, who was in the meeting with Fetterman, said he didn't want to discuss what was a private conversation. The teachers union encounter adds to the questions being raised about Fetterman's mental health and behavior, barely three years after he survived a stroke on the 2022 campaign trail that he said almost killed him. That was followed by a bout with depression that landed him in Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for six weeks, barely a month after he was sworn into the Senate. The scrutiny also comes at a time when Fetterman, now serving his third year of his term, is being criticized by many rank-and-file Democrats in his home state for being willing to cooperate with President Donald Trump, amid Democrats' growing alarm over Trump's actions and agenda. Fetterman — who has been diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, in which the heart muscle becomes weakened and enlarged, and auditory processing disorder, a complication from the stroke — has talked openly about his struggle with depression and urged people to get help. In November, he told podcast host Joe Rogan that he had recovered and fended off thoughts of harming himself. "I was at the point where I was really, you know, in a very dark place. And I stayed in that game and I am staying in front of you right now and having this conversation," Fetterman said. But some who have worked closely with Fetterman question whether his recovery is complete. In the 2024 letter to Dr. David Williamson, Jentleson warned that Fetterman was not seeing his doctors, had pushed out the people who were supposed to help him stay on his recovery plan and might not be taking his prescribed medications. Jentleson also said Fetterman had been driving recklessly and exhibiting paranoia, isolating him from colleagues. "Overall, over the last nine months or so, John has dismantled the early-warning system we all agreed upon when he was released," Jentleson wrote. "He has picked fights with each person involved in that system and used those fights as excuses to push them out and cut them off from any knowledge about his health situation." Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where Williamson works, declined to make him available for an interview, citing privacy and confidentiality laws protecting patient medical information. Fetterman has long been a wild card in the political realm, forging a career largely on his own, independently from the Democratic Party. As a small-town mayor in Braddock, the plainspoken Fetterman became a minor celebrity for his bare-knuckled progressive politics, his looks — he's 6-foot-8 and tattooed with a shaved head — and his unconventional efforts to put the depressed former steel town back on the map. He endorsed the insurgent Democrat Bernie Sanders in the 2016 presidential primary and ran from the left against the party-backed Democrat in 2016's Senate primary. In 2020, when he was lieutenant governor, he became a top surrogate on cable TV news shows for Joe Biden's presidential bid and gathered a national political following that made him a strong small-dollar fundraiser. Elected to the Senate in 2022, he has made waves with his casual dress — hoodies and gym shorts — at work and formal events, and his willingness to chastise other Democrats. Fetterman returned to the Senate after his hospitalization in 2023 as a much more outgoing lawmaker, frequently joking with his fellow senators and engaging with reporters in the hallways with the assistance of an iPad or iPhone that transcribes conversations in real time. Yet two years later, Fetterman is still something of a loner in the Senate. He has separated himself from many of his fellow Democrats on Israel policy and argued at times that his party needs to work with, not against, Trump. He met with Trump and Trump's nominees — and voted for some — when other Democrats wouldn't. He has stood firmly with Democrats in other cases and criticized Trump on some issues, such as trade and food aid. One particularly head-scratching video of Fetterman emerged earlier this year in which he was on a flight to Pittsburgh, apparently arguing with a pilot over his seatbelt. Despite fallout with progressives over his staunch support of Israel in its war in Gaza, Fetterman was still an in-demand personality last year to campaign in the battleground state of Pennsylvania for Biden and, after Biden dropped his reelection bid, Vice President Kamala Harris. Since Trump won November's election — and Pennsylvania — things have changed. Many one-time supporters have turned on Fetterman over his softer approach to Trump and his willingness to criticize fellow Democrats for raising alarm bells. It nevertheless brought Fetterman plaudits. Bill Maher, host of the political talk show "Real Time with Bill Maher," suggested that Fetterman should run for president in 2028. Conservatives, who had long made Fetterman a target for his progressive politics, have sprung to Fetterman's defense. Still, Democrats in Pennsylvania say they are hearing from people worried about him. "People are concerned about his health," said Sharif Street, the state's Democratic Party chairman. "They want to make sure he's OK. People care about him. There's a lot of love for him out there." ___ Associated Press reporter Mary Clare Jalonick in Washington contributed to this report. Follow Marc Levy on X at
The Independent
08-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
John Fetterman reduced a female staffer to tears with outburst of ‘why does everyone hate me!' at teachers' union meeting
Pennsylvania Democratic Senator John Fetterman reportedly reduced a staffer to tears amid outbursts of 'why does everyone hate me?' during a meeting with a teacher's union. Fetterman soon began repeating himself as he shouted, questioning why 'everybody is mad at me' and 'why does everyone hate me, what did I ever do,' as he slammed his hands on his desk, one person briefed on the event said. A staffer eventually ended the meeting and moved the visitors into the hallway, where she began crying. She was comforted by the teachers, who were also unnerved by Fetterman's actions, a second individual told about the meeting said. The meeting took place at Fetterman's office in Washington and was described by two anonymous sources to The Associated Press. The events took place the day before the release of a New York Magazine article in which former staff and advisers shared apprehensions about Fetterman's mental health. The Associated Press also reported on a 2024 letter sent by Fetterman's previous Chief of Staff, Adam Jentleson, who told a neuropsychiatrist who had overseen the senator's depression treatment that the senator showcased concerning behavior, suggesting that he was not taking his medications. Jentleson said Fetterman tended towards 'long, rambling, repetitive and self-centered monologues.' Fetterman said in a statement to The Independent that he 'had a spirited conversation' with the teachers' union 'about our collective frustration with the Trump administration's cuts to our education system.' He added that he "will always support our teachers, and I will always reject anyone's attempt to turn Pennsylvania's public schools into a voucher program.' Earlier this week, Fetterman was asked to respond to the story in New York Magazine, saying that it was a 'one-source hit piece and some anonymous sources, so there's nothing new.' A reporter asked him what he would say to those concerned about him. 'They're not. They're actually not concerned. It's a hit piece. There's no news,' said the senator. The meeting with the teachers' union is yet another addition to the questions surrounding Fetterman's behavior and mental health following the stroke he suffered during his 2022 Senate campaign. About a month after he was sworn in, he spent six weeks at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center being treated for depression. The senator is also facing criticism from Pennsylvania Democrats who are outraged at his willingness to work with President Donald Trump. Fetterman has been diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, which leads to the weakening and enlargement of the heart muscle, as well as auditory processing problems following the stroke. He has been outspoken about his struggle with his mental health, and he has urged others to get the help they need. He said on the Joe Rogan podcast in November that he had fought off thoughts of self-harm. 'I was at the point where I was really, you know, in a very dark place. And I stayed in that game and I am staying in front of you right now and having this conversation,' said Fetterman. But some of those who have worked alongside the senator remain concerned that his recovery isn't finished. Jentleson wrote in his letter last year that Fetterman wasn't seeing his doctors, that he had pushed away people who had helped him stick to his recovery plan, and that he may not be taking his medications. He added that Fetterman had been driving recklessly and was showing signs of paranoia. 'Overall, over the last nine months or so, John has dismantled the early-warning system we all agreed upon when he was released,' said Jentleson. 'He has picked fights with each person involved in that system and used those fights as excuses to push them out and cut them off from any knowledge about his health situation.' Jentleson told New York Magazine that he was taking his concerns public out of fear for Fetterman's health and for his staff. On Tuesday, Fetterman told CNN that Jentleson has a 'weird grudge.' 'If you're really concerned about someone, you could say, 'Hey, let's sit down. Can we talk?' It's not … like going to the media,' he told the network. 'I stand by what I said, and I hope he gets the help he needs,' Jentleson told CNN.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Sen. John Fetterman raises alarms with outburst at meeting with union officials, AP sources say
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was meeting last week with representatives from a teachers union in his home state when things quickly devolved. Before long, Fetterman began repeating himself, shouting and questioning why 'everybody is mad at me,' 'why does everyone hate me, what did I ever do' and slamming his hands on a desk, according to one person who was briefed on what occurred. As the meeting deteriorated, a staff member moved to end it and ushered the visitors into the hallway, where she broke down crying. The staffer was comforted by the teachers who were themselves rattled by Fetterman's behavior, according to a second person who was briefed separately on the meeting. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The interaction at Fetterman's Washington office, described to The Associated Press by the two people who spoke about it on the condition of anonymity, came the day before New York Magazine published a story in which former staff and political advisers to Fetterman aired concerns about the senator's mental health. That story included a 2024 letter, also obtained by the AP, in which Fetterman's one-time chief of staff Adam Jentleson told a neuropsychiatrist who had treated Fetterman for depression that the senator appeared to be off his recovery plan and was exhibiting alarming behavior, including a tendency toward 'long, rambling, repetitive and self-centered monologues.' Asked about the meeting with teachers union representatives, Fetterman said in a statement through his office that they 'had a spirited conversation about our collective frustration with the Trump administration's cuts to our education system.' He also said he "will always support our teachers, and I will always reject anyone's attempt to turn Pennsylvania's public schools into a voucher program.' Fetterman earlier this week brushed off the New York Magazine story as a 'one-source hit piece and some anonymous sources, so there's nothing new.' Asked by a reporter in a Senate corridor what he would say to people who are concerned about him, Fetterman said: 'They're not. They're actually not concerned. It's a hit piece. There's no news.' ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Reached by telephone, Aaron Chapin, the president of the Pennsylvania State Education Association who was in the meeting with Fetterman, said he didn't want to discuss what was a private conversation. Surviving a stroke, battling depression The teachers union encounter adds to the questions being raised about Fetterman's mental health and behavior barely three years after a he survived a stroke on the 2022 campaign trail that he said almost killed him. That was followed by a bout with depression that landed him in Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for six weeks, barely a month after he was sworn into the Senate. The scrutiny also comes a time when Fetterman, now serving third year of his term, is being criticized by many rank-and-file Democrats in his home state for being willing to cooperate with President Donald Trump, amid Democrats' growing alarm over Trump's actions and agenda. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Fetterman — who has been diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, in which the heart muscle becomes weakened and enlarged, and auditory processing disorder, a complication from the stroke — has talked openly about his struggle with depression and urged people to get help. In November, he told podcast host Joe Rogan that he had recovered and fended off thoughts of harming himself. 'I was at the point where I was really, you know, in a very dark place. And I stayed in that game and I am staying in front of you right now and having this conversation,' Fetterman said. But some who have worked closely with Fetterman question whether his recovery is complete. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement In the 2024 letter to Dr. David Williamson, Jentleson warned that Fetterman was not seeing his doctors, had pushed out the people who were supposed to help him stay on his recovery plan and might not be taking his prescribed medications. Jentleson also said Fetterman had been driving recklessly and exhibiting paranoia, isolating him from colleagues. 'Overall, over the last nine months or so, John has dismantled the early-warning system we all agreed upon when he was released,' Jentleson wrote. 'He has picked fights with each person involved in that system and used those fights as excuses to push them out and cut them off from any knowledge about his health situation.' Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where Williamson works, declined to make him available for an interview, citing privacy and confidentiality laws protecting patient medical information. A lone wolf in the Senate ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Fetterman has long been a wild card in the political realm, forging a career largely on his own, independently from the Democratic Party. As a small-town mayor in Braddock, the plainspoken Fetterman became a minor celebrity for his bare-knuckled progressive politics, his looks — he's 6-foot-8 and tattooed with a shaved head — and his unconventional efforts to put the depressed former steel town back on the map. He endorsed the insurgent Democrat Bernie Sanders in 2016's presidential primary and ran from the left against the party-backed Democrat in 2016's Senate primary. In 2020, when he was lieutenant governor, he became a top surrogate on cable TV news shows for Joe Biden's presidential bid and gathered a national political following that made him a strong small-dollar fundraiser. Elected to the Senate in 2022, he has made waves with his casual dress — hoodies and gym shorts — at work and at formal events and his willingness to chastise other Democrats. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Fetterman returned to the Senate after his hospitalization in 2023 a much more outgoing lawmaker, frequently joking with his fellow senators and engaging with reporters in the hallways with the assistance of an iPad or iPhone that transcribes conversations in real time. Yet two years later, Fetterman is still something of a loner in the Senate. He has separated himself from many of his fellow Democrats on Israel policy and argued at times that his party needs to work with, not against, Trump. He met with Trump and Trump's nominees — and voted for some — when other Democrats wouldn't. He has stood firmly with Democrats in other cases and criticized Trump on some issues, such as trade and food aid. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement One particularly head-scratching video of Fetterman emerged earlier this year in which he was on a flight to Pittsburgh apparently arguing with a pilot over his seatbelt. Despite fallout with progressives over his staunch support of Israel in its war in Gaza, Fetterman was still an in-demand personality last year to campaign in the battleground state of Pennsylvania for Biden and, after Biden dropped his reelection bid, Vice President Kamala Harris. Since Trump won November's election — and Pennsylvania — things have changed. Many one-time supporters have turned on Fetterman over his softer approach to Trump and his willingness to criticize fellow Democrats for raising alarm bells. It nevertheless brought Fetterman plaudits. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Bill Maher, host of the political talk show 'Real Time with Bill Maher," suggested that Fetterman should run for president in 2028. Conservatives — who had long made Fetterman a target for his progressive politics — have sprung to Fetterman's defense. Still, Democrats in Pennsylvania say they are hearing from people worried about him. 'People are concerned about his health," said Sharif Street, the state's Democratic Party chairman. 'They want to make sure he's OK. People care about him. There's a lot of love for him out there.' ___ Associated Press reporter Mary Clare Jalonick in Washington contributed to this report. Follow Marc Levy on X at
