Fetterman Reportedly Walked Into Traffic, Was ‘Manic’ And ‘Unhinged’ During Mental Health Crisis

Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman reportedly displayed distressing behavior during an extended mental health crisis that left people in his orbit deeply concerned about the senator’s condition, according to New York Magazine.

Fetterman suffered a stroke in 2022 while running for the senate seat he now occupies, and he checked in to Walter Reed hospital in March 2023 for extensive treatment for depression. New York Magazine’s piece — based on interviews with Fetterman and numerous people in his orbit — reports that the senator’s mental health situation has been more troubling than publicly acknowledged.

Adam Jentleson, Fetterman’s former chief of staff, quit his job one year after the senator’s release from Walter Reed because he was so concerned about the Democrat’s erratic behavior, according to New York Magazine. According to Jentleson, Fetterman does not regularly take his medication, is prone to conspiratorial thinking, drives recklessly and tells painfully obvious lies in addition to dodging check-up appointments.

“Part of the tragedy here is that this is a man who could be leading Democrats out of the wilderness,” Jentleson told the outlet. “But I also think he’s struggling in a way that shouldn’t be hidden from the public.”

For his part, Fetterman disputed the article’s central thesis and dismissed many of the anecdotes and anonymous quotes in it as baseless conjecture. Fetterman’s office did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

Many of the staff members who once made up his inner circle have subsequently left his office, and more departures may be coming, according to New York Magazine. Among themselves, staffers have used words like “manic” and “unhinged” to describe their principal’s behavior at times.