Fetterman stayed silent on the WSJ report for days, then he broke it by calling former staffers ‘disgruntled’

Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman sent CNN a statement this weekend after staying quiet while The Wall Street Journal ran a story that quoted former aides and printed private texts. He had not answered the paper’s earlier requests for comment. In the statement, he described those former aides as “disgruntled staffers.”

Fetterman labeled the Journal story “the third hit piece from disgruntled staffers” who have gone after him. He said it was filled with “lies, half-truths, innuendos, smears and anonymous.” He also said, “No matter how many smears or stories, I’m proud to continue to deliver for Pennsylvania.”

The Journal wrote that former staffers contended Fetterman now cares more about winning favor with conservative media than doing the work of a senator and that he often skipped meetings with constituents. 

Fetterman replies to published texts about a hospital and events he missed

Some of those former aides have opened an anonymous X account and said they may release more unflattering material. Fetterman’s standing with fellow Democrats has slipped amid clashes with the party’s left over Israel, Iran and immigration as he considers a 2028 reelection bid.

Fetterman said the three text messages the Journal printed were “stripped of any context and circumstances.” One message from last September showed him asking aides why he had to “keep having to meet” officials from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. An aide answered that the hospital feared Medicaid cuts. Fetterman wrote back, “Well, I’m not.”

He later called that line a “dumb joke, and for that, I sincerely apologize.” Fetterman said he has sat down with the hospital’s officials “virtually and in person” and pointed to a photo he shared on X. He said, “My office and I always have, and always will, advocate for CHOP, support their requests and any other needs that we can assist with.”

The Journal reported he also missed a funeral last September for three police officers killed near York, his hometown. A text quoted him complaining about the three-hour service and calling it “This may be a nonstarter.” Fetterman said flowers were sent privately to the families that day and that he posted public condolences on X.

He said he later went, in private, to a Tunnel to Towers fundraiser in York in June of this year. Fetterman said he spoke there with the officers’ chief and with family members to offer his personal condolences.

The Journal also wrote that he missed a scheduled meeting with three paralyzed Pennsylvania veterans who wanted to talk about healthcare legislation. Aides told the veterans he was unwell. The paper said he arrived at the office about an hour later looking fine and then taped a Fox News interview. 

Fetterman said, “It was my intention to meet with the group.” He said he had been at home throwing up, told staff to hold the meeting without him, and felt able to resume his schedule hours later.

New York Magazine last year described a 2024 letter from Adam Jentleson, who had been Fetterman’s chief of staff, that flagged worries about the senator’s behavior and mental health. The pattern of staff departures and public disputes has continued, with the Wall Street Journal report detailing behavior that has drawn criticism from within his own party. 

Fetterman spent about six weeks in a hospital for depression in 2023. In May 2025 he told CNN that earlier story also relied on “disgruntled staffers” with a “weird grudge.” Last week Jentleson wrote on X that the Journal piece drew on “an entirely new group of staff who have rotated in and apparently find themselves horrified at Fetterman’s behavior.”

Fetterman said in July that he would leave the Democratic Party if it takes an anti-Israel position. He has previously outlined specific conditions that would push him out of the party, such as when he warned about crossing a red line on Israel.