Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) dismissed the Epstein files as a "nothing burger," mocked concerns about healthcare affordability, and compared a nurse killed by ICE to Kyle Rittenhouse — all in private texts to staffers, according to a bombshell New York Magazine investigation published Thursday.
The texts, obtained by reporter Alex Shultz, paint a portrait of a senator who, his own staff says, has been "acting like a Republican" in private — even as his approval among Pennsylvania Democrats has collapsed.
In January, Fetterman sent a group text to staffers after seeing a headline about the average working family spending nearly $4,000 a year on healthcare. "How should it cost? Free?" he wrote. "I don't understand what affordability it is."
That same month, after the release of the Epstein files, Fetterman texted a staffer: "Epstein was a nothing burger. Worst pics I've seen were from Clinton lol."
When Alex Pretti was killed by ICE agents in Minneapolis, Fetterman fixated not on the killing but on what he saw as Democratic hypocrisy. "Kyle Rittenhouse brought a gun to a protest. He was roundly condemned for that. Why are now democrats defending the nurse it was legal to carry. Both legal weapons. Square that," he texted.
The picture inside Fetterman's office is equally grim. Multiple current and former staffers told New York Magazine they are "incredulous and exhausted." His chief of staff, Cabelle St. John, announced her departure the same week the story was published. Some staffers have begun privately joking that Fetterman is the "senator from Tel Aviv," a reference to his increasingly singular focus on Israel — a preoccupation that has effectively sidelined other legislative work, according to a current staffer.
The dysfunction hasn't dampened Fetterman's ambitions. He reportedly floated himself as a potential VP pick on the 2028 Democratic ticket to senior staff. Their reaction, per one staffer in the room: "Are you out of your mind? You don't do your job, you can't raise any money, and your entire party hates you."
The numbers bear that out. A February Quinnipiac poll found just 22 percent of Pennsylvania Democrats approved of his job performance, while 73 percent of Republicans approved — a near-complete inversion of his numbers from when he took office. According to CNN, his net approval among Pennsylvania Democrats has dropped 108 points since 2023, from +68 to -40.
Fetterman's office did not respond to requests for comment.