Gisele Fetterman lambasts 'terrible' media, says journalists bombarded her when husband was sick

Yahoo

4 days ago

The wife of Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., slammed the media for invading her family's privacy in a new podcast interview, saying the industry was rewarded for acting terribly.
"My husband is a public figure, but I am a private citizen and journalists don't seem to really care," Gisele Fetterman told Meghan McCain in an upcoming episode of her podcast, "Citizen McCain."
Gisele Fetterman explained how her house was surrounded by media trucks after her husband checked himself into Walter Reed Medical Center for depression weeks after he was sworn into the U.S. Senate in 2023.
"They knew John wasn't there. They were looking for me, and I was in the car," she told McCain. "I went into the garage, but they were surrounding literally the whole outside [of] my house. National, local, and, you know, I am a private citizen."
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Gisele Fetterman said she wished she could protect her children from public scrutiny but admitted that she wouldn't stop them from reading the reports about their father if they wanted to.
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John Fetterman's health was a focal point during his Senate campaign for Pennsylvania after he suffered a stroke in May 2022. Though he won the race, the scrutiny over his health continued after he checked himself into Walter Reed to be treated for depression after taking office. He has been open in the years since about his cognitive and mental health struggles.
McCain shared with Fetterman that the media coverage during her father John McCain's battle with brain cancer intensified the situation and made it "one of the worst times in my entire life." He died in 2018.
McCain asked Fetterman if she felt the press had "learned any lessons" about treating people dealing with health issues with "kindness and compassion."
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"No," Fetterman responded. "Definitely not."
She argued that the media profited from these stories so they were incentivized to report on personal matters.
"I think they're rewarded by clicks and how many people read the article," she argued. "I think it's rewarded, so the goal is to be more and more terrible."
Since taking office in 2023, John Fetterman has drawn criticism from progressives within his own party over his staunch support for Israel, immigration enforcement and occasional defense of President Donald Trump.
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Ahead of Trump's second inauguration, Fetterman faced backlash for meeting with the then-president-elect at Mar-a-Lago. He called Trump "kind" and "cordial" during an appearance on "The View," and said his New York criminal trial was "politically motivated."
Reports have emerged from Fetterman's staffers describing erratic behavior behind the scenes since he took office. A New York Magazine article in May also revealed alleged tensions between Fetterman and his wife over his backing of Israel and its war in Gaza, and the senator dismissed the story as a "hit piece."
In the wide-ranging "Citizen McCain" interview airing Wednesday at noon ET on 2WAY's "Citizen McCain," Gisele Fetterman also revealed she had no interest in running for political office and confessed she wouldn't be supportive of her husband running for president.
Fox News Digital reached out to his office for comment.Original article source: Gisele Fetterman lambasts 'terrible' media, says journalists bombarded her when husband was sick