On the one hand, there's this from CNN:
Sen. John Fetterman roundly dismissed allegations that he’s unfit to serve in the Senate, attacking a recent report detailing claims of erratic behavior as a “hit piece” and vowing to serve out his term.
In an exclusive sit-down interview with CNN in his Senate office, the Pennsylvania Democrat discussed his treatment for depression and insisted that he is following a strict protocol laid out by his doctors. He pushed back on assertions from former and current staffers recently published in New York Magazine that he had been exhibiting reckless and volatile behavior.
“It’s a one-source hit piece, and it involved maybe two or three and anonymous disgruntled staffers saying just absolute false things,” he said.
But then there's this from the AP:
Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was meeting last week with representatives from a teachers union in his home state when things quickly 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 only wiggle-room for Fetterman in this is the sourcing:
...according to one person who was briefed on what occurred.
And:
...according to a second person who was briefed separately on the meeting.
So neither of the sources was actually there at that meeting.
That's the only wiggle room for Fetterman I'm seeing. And it's pretty weak.
Then there's this from The Philadelphia Inquirer. After referencing both pieces above, there's this:
Now, as the fallout from the story continues, some of Fetterman’s behaviors once dismissed as typical of an unconventional and often introverted lawmaker are being revisited. And behind the scenes, former staffers say the teachers’ union meeting is emblematic of Fetterman’s unpredictable and inconsistent conduct across a tumultuous first few years in office.
Half a dozen former Fetterman staffers who spoke to The Inquirer on the condition of anonymity, for fear of career repercussions working in Democratic politics, said Fetterman isn’t doing the basic job of a U.S. senator. The former staffers described a frequently absent senator, spending many hours on the Hill alone in his office, avoiding colleagues or meetings.
“It’s pretty impossible to overstate how disengaged he is,” a recently departed staffer said. “He doesn’t read memos, he’s taking very few meetings … the job is just a platform for him to run for president, that’s all he cares about.”
Uh-oh. This is not the way to run for president.
He has a job now. He should be doing that job now. If he can't do that job now, then he has a few decisions to make.
