Fetterman rejects ‘smears,’ ‘half-truths’ in Wall Street Journal report

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) dismissed what he called “smears” and “half-truths” in a recent Wall Street Journal piece , which reported allegations that he dodged constituents and ingratiated himself with conservative news outlets.

“Per usual — lies, half-truths, innuendos, smears and anonymous,” Fetterman said in a statement to CNN on Sunday, later adding, “No matter how many smears or stories, I’m proud to continue to deliver for Pennsylvania.”

The Pennsylvania Democrat –– who reportedly went almost a year without participating in a public event in his home state — also slammed text messages shared in the Journal report as being “stripped of any context and circumstances.”

The Hill has reached out to Fetterman’s office for comment.

Former staffers claimed to the outlet that the senator shows little interest in his job besides “cultivating relationships with conservative media figures and advocating for Israel,” according to the Journal.

One text exchange published in the report shows an aide telling him in September 2025 that officials at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) wanted to meet over worries about Medicaid cuts. Fetterman asked why he had to “keep meeting” with hospital officials, prompting the staffer to reply that it was about vaccinations and cuts to Medicaid, according to the report.

“Well I’m not,” the senator texted back. “I’m convinced they just want free trips to D.C.”

He apologized for the remark in his statement to CNN, calling it a “dumb joke” but added that he met with hospital officials in person and virtually.

“My office and I always have, and always will, advocate for CHOP, support their requests and any other needs that we can assist with,” Fetterman said.

Around that same time, the Journal reported the Democrat skipped the funeral for three police officers killed near his hometown of York, Pa. A staffer told Fetterman it would be a three-hour service, to which he replied that it “may be a nonstarter.”

He later told CNN he took steps to meet with the family members affected and share his condolences.

“On the day of that tragedy, we privately ordered flowers to be delivered for their families and expressed my condolences publicly,” Fetterman told the network. “In June of this year, I privately attended a Tunnel to Towers fundraiser in York for the families. I met with their chief and the family members directly to express my personal condolences.”

The newspaper’s report also suggested that Fetterman went on Fox News to discuss Israel and the Iran war after allegedly faking an illness to avoid meeting with disabled veterans. The Journal then noted the senator attended 26 of the 31 full hearings for his assigned committees in the past year, and that he did not speak in 20 of them.

Former Fetterman staffers have created an anonymous account on social platform X and have threatened to share more unflattering details about him, pointing to his frequent Fox News appearances and repeated support for Israel as he dismisses the rise of the left within his party.

The senator himself warned in July that he would leave the Democratic Party if it adopted an anti-Israel policy.