Sen. John Fetterman raises alarms with outburst at meeting with union officials, AP sources say

By MARC LEVY 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 promptly 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 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 wellness That story included a letter also obtained by the AP in which Fetterman s one-time chief of staff Adam Jentleson stated 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 Required about the meeting with teachers union representatives Fetterman explained in a report through his office that they had a spirited conversation about our collective frustration with the Trump administration s cuts to our training system He also declared he will invariably advocacy our teachers and I will perpetually reject anyone s attempt to turn Pennsylvania s society schools into a voucher plan Fetterman earlier this week brushed off the New York Magazine story as a one-source hit piece and various anonymous sources so there s nothing new Appealed by a reporter in a Senate corridor what he would say to people who are concerned about him Fetterman declared They re not They re genuinely not concerned It s a hit piece There s no news Reached by telephone Aaron Chapin the president of the Pennsylvania State Schooling Association who was in the meeting with Fetterman reported 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 soundness and behavior barely three years after he survived a stroke on the campaign trail that he announced almost killed him That was followed by a bout with depression that landed him in Walter Reed National Military Health 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 third year of his term is being criticized by a great number of 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 stated 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 championship and I am staying in front of you right now and having this conversation Fetterman explained But specific who have worked closely with Fetterman question whether his recovery is complete In the 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 disclosed 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 distributed 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 soundness situation Walter Reed National Military Anatomical Center where Williamson works declined to make him available for an interview citing privacy and confidentiality laws protecting sufferer diagnostic information A lone wolf in the Senate 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 -foot- 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 s presidential primary and ran from the left against the party-backed Democrat in s Senate primary In 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 charity event Related Articles Colorado school district seeks restrictions on transgender athletes amid Trump crackdown US Medical department will analyze information from autistic Medicare Medicaid enrollees RFK Jr says House GOP backing off various Medicaid cuts as document shows millions of people would lose healthcare care Feds vow to overhaul US air traffic control system while fixing problems at troubled Newark airport Federal judge orders Trump administration to unblock pandemic relief money for schools Elected to the Senate in 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 Fetterman returned to the Senate after his hospitalization in 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 plenty of of his fellow Democrats on Israel guidelines and argued at times that his party requirements to work with not against Trump He met with Trump and Trump s nominees and voted for specific when other Democrats wouldn t He has stood firmly with Democrats in other cases and criticized Trump on specific issues such as agreement 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 patronage 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 vote and Pennsylvania things have changed Multiple 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 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 strength reported 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 assessment Follow Marc Levy on X at https x com timelywriter