Fetterman vows to stay in Senate, dismissing questions over fitness to serve

Sen. John Fetterman is roundly dismissed allegations that he’s unfit to serve in the Senate, attacking a recent report detailing claims of erratic behavior as a “hit piece” and vowing to serve out his term.

Sen. John Fetterman is roundly dismissed allegations that he’s unfit to serve in the Senate, attacking a recent report detailing claims of erratic behavior as a “hit piece” and vowing to serve out his term. In an exclusive sit-down interview with CNN in his Senate office, the Pennsylvania Democrat discussed his treatment for depression and insisted that he is following a strict protocol laid out by his doctors. He pushed back on assertions from former and current staffers recently published in New York Magazine that he had been exhibiting reckless and volatile behavior. “It’s a one-source hit piece, and it involved maybe two or three and anonymous disgruntled staffers saying just absolute false things,” he said. Fetterman has before been open about receiving treatment for clinical depression and how his tough Senate race in 2022 worsened his mental health. According to New York Magazine, former Fetterman chief of staff Adam Jentleson and former staffers described Fetterman as a senator “who has become almost impossible to work for” and who had a mental health situation more complicated than previously disclosed. There is already intense interest in primarying Fetterman, and questions over his fitness to serve could amplify that effort. The allegations Fetterman faces also come as some in the Democratic Party have shown increased interest in medical transparency after former President Joe Biden left the last campaign cycle amid questions over his mental acuity and fitness for office. Fetterman denied he had other mental health issues beyond what he has publicly disclosed, calling it “outrageous” to suggest otherwise.