They say a good man is hard to find. But what about a politically ambiguous United States senator? Turns out that may not be so easy, either. I’d know — I’ve spent the past month attempting to reach one of my senators, John Fetterman (D-Pa.).
Like many of his constituents, I wanted to know more about why the erstwhile leftwing stalwart has since taken a staunchly pro-Israel stance and even greenlit several of President Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees. I was also hoping to learn more about turnover on his staff, his recent antagonism toward some supporters, and, ideally, the senator’s health, given his previous depression diagnosis and stroke. Lastly, I wanted to know why Fetterman thinks Trump and Elon Musk’s brazen power grab “isn’t a constitutional crisis” when a growing number are calling it a “coup.”
In other words, I wanted the same answers from Fetterman that many Fetterman voters want two years into his term.
After sending several emails to his staff, calling all six of his offices and leaving voicemails, tagging the senator and several former staffers on social media, texting other former staff members, emailing Braddock-area elected officials, and stopping by his Pittsburgh office, I was finally able to reach the senator’s staff.
Unfortunately, days after Pittsburgh City Paper spiked this story to give Fetterman more time to answer questions, Team Fetterman declined to comment, leaving me with the same question as the constituents I interviewed: what does John Fetterman believe?
From Braddock to the big time
Most locals know that Fetterman used to be mayor of Braddock, where he drew attention to the long-suffering borough’s plight with TV spots, tattoos, and redevelopment projects. At the time, he was given a great deal of credit for rehabilitating the borough. However, he also courted controversy, in one instance pulling a gun on a jogger he mistakenly believed was fleeing a shooting.
As national outlets were calling him a “taste god”, Fetterman shot ads for Levi’s and rode Braddock’s glow-up narrative, first to a failed Senate campaign in 2016 (he lost to former state official Katie McGinty, who then lost to Republican incumbent Pat Toomey), and then the Pa. Lieutenant Governorship in 2019. Fetterman used the power of that office to flaunt progressive values, defiantly flying Pride flags and a cannabis leaf banner from his balcony in Harrisburg.
Chardaè Jones, who succeeded Fetterman as mayor in 2019, tells Pittsburgh City Paper that, in her view, Fetterman has long seemed more interested in the performative side of politics.
“I just feel like he was really good at cosplaying as a working-class individual,” Jones says. “He didn’t have the same problems and was afforded more opportunities than your average Braddock person.” Jones notes that the mayoral position’s low pay — $85 per month — was less of an issue for Fetterman given his comparatively well-off family, cutting against the blue-collar narrative.
When Toomey announced his return to the private sector in 2020, Fetterman again jumped into the race for Senate. He quickly gained ground on his opponents, including then-Rep. Conor Lamb and Pa. Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (now DNC co-chair), and eventually won the right to face TV personality and Republican nominee Mehmet Oz in the general election.
Jones, who says she eventually voted for Fetterman in November, at first endorsed Kenyatta, in part because she says Fetterman had been scarce while Braddock continued to suffer from population loss, decaying infrastructure, and a lack of medical access following UPMC’s withdrawal from the borough.
“When he was running for Senate, I lived two doors down from him,” she says. “People were like, ‘Why didn’t you endorse Fetterman?’ And I was like, ‘I’ve been his neighbor for two years and never saw him or spoke to him.’”
The 2022 general election was ugly. Fetterman went full bore at Oz, criticizing him as an unqualified carpetbagger and couching his own campaign as centered on “workers, wages and weed.” And then came a stroke that sidelined the candidate for months. When he returned, Fetterman used adaptive technology to overcome new struggles with speech.
Online, many have casually implied that this episode changed the senator. In one interview, Fetterman credited the stroke with giving him the “freedom” to “no longer be afraid [of] blowback.” I reached out to Allegheny Health Network to see if they could offer more specifics on the impacts of a stroke, but the network was “uncomfortable” with making doctors available to comment on one patient’s specific case. Fetterman later sought inpatient treatment for depression.
After staff “stepped up,” advancing the senator’s agenda in his absence, Fetterman returned to his antagonistic ways, prompting a procedural fight over the Senate’s dress code after refusing to change out of his customary hoodie. Jones says her skepticism turned to frustration as Braddock continued to experience issues with gun violence and bad roads.
“We have some representation higher up, so maybe in Braddock, we might see something come back to us,” Jones recalls thinking. “But no.”
Fetterman would undercut his progressive support further following Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 attack against Israel and Israel’s subsequent devastation of the Gaza Strip.
Wrapped in the flag
One question I especially wanted to ask Fetterman was about his support for Israel. It wasn’t, and still isn’t, clear to me to what extent his support for Zionism is personal, political, both, or neither.
Fetterman has been an unwavering, even churlish Israel booster since Hamas’ attack — this has put him at odds with a wide swath of the local electorate in Greater Pittsburgh, particularly progressives, who have steadfastly called for an end to the violence. Just over a month after Oct. 7, Fetterman was recorded booing protestors calling for a ceasefire. Shortly thereafter, he was seen wearing the Israeli flag like a cape at the March for Israel rally. The actions stood in contrast to his earlier criticism of Oz for not recognizing the Armenian Genocide.
The senator’s vehement support of Israel’s actions, which many consider a genocide, seems to have been an inflection point for many who voted for him in ’22.
Remy Porter, who cast his ballot for Fetterman, says he initially supported the senator in part due to the “positive press coverage” of Fetterman’s tenure as a “reformer” in Braddock, although Porter says he was aware of some negative local stories, too.
“I will put myself down as one of those people that, in retrospect, I would call a sucker,” Porter tells City Paper. “I was happy to focus on more of the progressive accomplishments and less on the critique.”
Instead of a “loud, full-throated” progressive, Porter says he was quickly “disappointed” by Fetterman’s penchant for trolling and seeming about-face on his past progressive statements, as well as by his stance on Gaza. “That kind of both foreign adventurism and, really, facilitation of what would be ethnic cleansing … is bad.”
Porter began sending Fetterman emails. Others accosted the senator in public — in one viral incident that made national headlines, Fetterman was seen mocking a constituent on his way to the elevator, garnering praise from conservatives. His approval rating has since doubled among Republicans.
When Trump was reelected, Fetterman distanced himself from fellow Democrats, criticizing his party for being “condescending” to white men. And then came “yea” votes for Trump nominees — including as the sole Democrat to vote “yes” for now-U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi — and conservative immigration policies.
Porter says he doesn’t get it. “If [Republicans] don’t need your vote, don’t give it to them. You’re not getting anything out of this,” he says. “Maybe you’re gonna get some concession in the future … but out here, your constituents just see that you don’t stand for anything.”
Fetterman now seems likely to have lost many former supporters like Porter. He’s been called a “craven opportunist” and “jagoff” by progressive publications (in fairness, I should note that he lost CP readers’ vote for Best Jagoff 2024 to UPMC). His office has also seen notable levels of staff turnover, with a former communications director speaking out against Fetterman’s support for Israel and multiple staff members leaving as recently as Feb. 19 for the same reason.
It’s unclear if the senator cares. Fetterman, who’s accepted nearly $250,000 in donations from pro-Israel lobby AIPAC, also features prominently on a new hoodie for sale through AIPAC’s website. He dined with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in January, recently praised Musk, and says “no one is my gatekeeper.” That leaves the rest of us to figure out what has changed — if anything.
“I was hoping he’d be the goon version of Bernie Sanders. A quirky, heroic Everyman to represent us,” Fetterman voter Katherine Hayes posted on Bluesky. “I overlooked his banal, opportunistic politicking and focused on his Pride marches.”
In another Bluesky post, Hayes stated, “I voted for Fetterman thinking I was supporting a giant, but he’s just a troll.”
Many others have taken to social media to express regret over their votes. “For a brief slip of time Pennsylvania had two Democratic Senators. Starting next month, it appears we’ll have zero,” Bluesky user James Santelli wrote.
Porter agrees. “My thesis of his entire voting pattern is: he has no values,” he says. He’s continued to write the senator in hopes of finding answers, although Porter says Fetterman, after a form letter early in his term, has stopped responding.
Former Braddock mayor Jones says it’s unclear to her what Fetterman’s endgame was or is. Braddock’s problems remain similar; she says she’s seen little of the senator around the borough in recent years. I ask about her reaction to her predecessor’s rightward drift and what she’s hopeful for as a constituent — Fetterman will, barring the unforeseen, remain in office through Jan. 2029.
“I have no idea what his character is at this point or what he stands for,” she says. “I just hope someone runs against him in four years.”
This article appears in Mar 5-11, 2025.
