John Fetterman clashes with CNN over ‘invasive’ question about medication use

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., clashed with a CNN reporter on Tuesday who questioned whether he was going to step down because of scathing allegations about his health in a New York Magazine report.

The report, published last Friday in New York Magazine’s Intelligencer, featured comments from former and current staffers claiming the senator displayed erratic behavior as they questioned his fitness for office.

Fetterman, who suffered a massive stroke in May 2022 and was treated for depression in February 2023, has repeatedly dismissed the report as a “hit piece” put out by disgruntled staffers with an axe to grind.

On Tuesday, he clashed with CNN’s Manu Raju after the reporter asked the senator if he was taking his medication and if he intended to stay in office.

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“Senator, you’ve been public about your struggles with depression,” Raju said. “And you had a prescription regimen of drugs to take in the aftermath of that. Have you been keeping up with that? Taking your medication?”

An NBC reporter also confronted Fetterman about his medication use earlier Tuesday.

Fetterman told CNN that his doctor says he is doing “great” before hitting back at the outlet for posing the “invasive” question.

“It’s incredibly invasive,” he told Raju. “Why are people talking about anyone’s personal medical things? I think most people would agree that’s really, really invasive.”

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The New York Magazine report, which largely featured anecdotes from anonymous staffers, also included on-the-record comments from some former staff members, including Fetterman’s former chief-of-staff, Adam Jentleson. Jentleson was allegedly so worried about the senator’s mental health that he wrote an email last year to a doctor who had treated him at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center outlining his concerns, which included Fetterman reportedly not taking his medication.

Fetterman reiterated to CNN that the report was instigated by “disgruntled” staff who had an “agenda.”

“It’s, like, no, he’s had a weird grudge and he’s threatened to do this for quite a while. And if you’re really concerned about someone, you could say, ‘Hey, let’s sit down, can we talk?’ It’s not, like, going to the media. And that’s why somebody that has an agenda, it’s, like, a hit piece,” he said.

CNN also pressed Fetterman about an allegation in the report that he drove “recklessly,” which the senator dismissed.

“There’s no news on those things,” he told CNN. “It was an accident.”

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Raju followed up by asking Fetterman if he plans “to serve [his] full term here in the Senate.”

“C’mon,” Fetterman scoffed. “Of course. Obviously. Obviously. Everybody understands I was treated for depression.”

Many conservative critics have described the NY Mag piece as a “hit piece,” believing Fetterman’s backing of Israel, which was prominently mentioned in the report, is the reason why liberals are suddenly abandoning him after rallying behind him on the heels of his stroke during the 2022 midterm campaign. 

A spokesperson for NY Mag defended their report in a statement to Fox News Digital:

“The story was rigorously reported and fact checked, and based on information from many sources, both on the record and anonymous, who have worked with Senator Fetterman, as well as the senator himself.”

Fox News’ Joseph A. Wulfoshn contributed to this report.