Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) brushed off paralyzed veterans and a children's hospital while cash from a prominent conservative donor came in amid his rightward drift.
According to a Thursday report by the Wall Street Journal, Fetterman canceled on three paralyzed military veterans who traveled from rural Pennsylvania in June to discuss legislation on their care. He told staff he might have eaten something bad, The Journal reported.
Less than an hour after aides met the veterans in his place, Fetterman reportedly walked in looking fine and headed to Fox News to talk about Israel.
The Journal's reporting drew from more than a dozen former staffers and lawmakers, plus internal text messages. "Behind closed doors, the first-term senator shows little interest in doing the job beyond cultivating relationships with conservative media figures and advocating for Israel," The Journal wrote.
When an aide told him last September that officials from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia wanted to meet over Medicaid cuts, Fetterman texted back, "Well I'm not," according to messages reviewed by The Journal, which added that he was "convinced they just want free trips to DC."
The Journal described how Fetterman was once the mayor of the town of Braddock and a disciple of Bernie Sanders. He's increasingly aligned himself with Republicans, The Journal noted. He now polls better with GOP voters than Pennsylvania's Republican senator, Dave McCormick, per New York Times polling cited by The Journal. The drift has fueled speculation that he could switch parties, The Journal noted.
In July, filings showed that he took money from a prominent conservative donor, according to The Journal. When he was asked in March about a call Senate Democratic leadership was arranging, Fetterman texted, "I truly don't care," The Journal reported.
Fetterman didn't respond to The Journal's interview requests and walked away from a reporter at an Erie event last month. At the event, he defended his record by saying, "We have to work together."
