A lengthy report in New York magazine suggests John Fetterman's mental and physical health has been deteriorating in dangerous fashion since his treatment for clinical depression in 2023—treatment that followed a stroke. The magazine's Ben Terris obtained a letter written by the Democratic senator's former chief of staff to Fetterman's doctor at Walter Reed. "We do not know if he is taking his meds and his behavior frequently suggests he is not," wrote Adam Jentleson, who says he was so alarmed by the behavior of his boss that he resigned last year. Jentleson ticked off a number of warning signs, including "conspiratorial thinking," a renewed obsession with social media (which had contributed to Fetterman's first downward spiral), and "high highs and low lows." He worried that Fetterman "won't be with us for much longer" should the behavior continue.
Terris interviews other current and former staffers who voice similar concerns. "Many of the staffers I spoke with are angry," he writes. "They are troubled. And they are sad. These were some of Fetterman's truest believers, and they now question his fitness to be a senator. They worry he may present a risk to the Democratic Party and maybe even to himself." The Pennsylvania senator disputes all this himself in an interview with Terris. "I'm just going to say that it's disgruntled employees saying things that are either untrue or, so, that's kind of the business that we are in," he says. Read the full story, in which the author says he and Jentleson became good friends several years ago. In response, Fetterman is calling the story a "hit piece," per the New York Times, and a spokesperson castigates Jentleson for evidently releasing a personal letter about Fetterman's mental health. (More John Fetterman stories.)