John Fetterman blew off paralyzed vets and children's hospital amid rightward drift: WSJ
Bennito L. Kelty
September 3, 2026
RAW STORY
U.S. Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) looks on as U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Rand Paul (R-KY) presides over a vote whether to hold Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), in contempt for having invoked the Fifth Amendment in response to questions about the government's COVID-19 pandemic response during a July 29 hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 6, 2026. REUTERS/Nathan Howard
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.
U.S. Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) looks on as U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Rand Paul (R-KY) presides over a vote whether to hold Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), in contempt for having invoked the Fifth Amendment in response to questions about the government's COVID-19 pandemic response during a July 29 hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 6, 2026. REUTERS/Nathan Howard
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."
Fetterman snubbed veterans and constituents to hang with Fox: report
U.S. Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.,
U.S. Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.,
U.S., March 19, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
September 03, 2026
ALTERNET
A new report reveals that Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) snubbed disabled veterans and poor people, so he could instead pander to Republicans, right-wing media and pro-Israel groups.
"One morning in June, three paralyzed military veterans in wheelchairs from rural Pennsylvania arrived at the office of Sen. John Fetterman for a long-awaited meeting to discuss legislation that would improve their care," reported The Wall Street Journal's Will Hobson and Siobhan Hughes on Thursday. "Fetterman’s staff greeted them with bad news: The Pennsylvania Democrat had to cancel. He’d told his staff he may have eaten something bad and wasn’t feeling well, according to people familiar with the matter."
The Journal added, "Less than an hour after his staffers met with the veterans in his place, Fetterman walked into his office, showing no signs of illness. He had an appointment he didn’t want to miss, he told staff: an interview on Fox News to discuss Israel and the war in Iran."
This, said WSJ, was not the only notable Fetterman snub.
"In April 2025, veteran Pennsylvania state lawmaker Anthony Hardy Williams brought a busload of constituents to Washington from Eastwick, a poorer, flood-prone neighborhood in Philadelphia, to meet with their representatives in Congress and discuss Trump administration cuts to a grant program that had helped the area," Hobson and Hughes reported.
They continued, "Fetterman was the only one who refused to meet with them, Williams said in an interview. At one point, they saw Fetterman walking the halls and yelled, but he didn’t acknowledge them, according to Williams."
The Pennsylvania Democrat has repeatedly played footsie with Republicans, from accepting money from right-wing donors to vowing that he would not campaign against the Pennsylvania Republican who also represents his state in the Senate, Dave McCormick. He has also fixated on Israel as one of his main issues, vowing to leave the Democratic Party if it becomes "anti-Israel" and prioritizing concerns related to that nation's interests more than most other matters that come across his Senate desk.
Fetterman's pro-Israel positioning comes at a time when hate toward both Jews and Muslims is peaking in America. As The New Republic reported in July, “President Trump posted a captionless video of graduating kindergarteners on Truth Social on Monday, goading his supporters into verbally attacking little children simply for being Muslim,. The clip is from Gateway STEM Academy, a majority-Black K-8 public charter school in St. Paul, Minnesota. It shows about 21 children in caps and gowns on stage singing a song together. Most of the girls are wearing hijabs.” Similarly hate crimes toward Jews have been on the rise over the past few years.
Although Fetterman has equated criticizing Israel's government with hating all Jews or all Israelis, Brandeis University historian Jonathan Sarna told AlterNet in March that it is wrong for so many Americans to blame all Jews for the actions of Israel's government, observing that "if you wouldn't equate criticism of the President with hating America, there is no reason — and indeed it is wrong and wicked — to do so with regard to Israel.”
A new report reveals that Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) snubbed disabled veterans and poor people, so he could instead pander to Republicans, right-wing media and pro-Israel groups.
"One morning in June, three paralyzed military veterans in wheelchairs from rural Pennsylvania arrived at the office of Sen. John Fetterman for a long-awaited meeting to discuss legislation that would improve their care," reported The Wall Street Journal's Will Hobson and Siobhan Hughes on Thursday. "Fetterman’s staff greeted them with bad news: The Pennsylvania Democrat had to cancel. He’d told his staff he may have eaten something bad and wasn’t feeling well, according to people familiar with the matter."
The Journal added, "Less than an hour after his staffers met with the veterans in his place, Fetterman walked into his office, showing no signs of illness. He had an appointment he didn’t want to miss, he told staff: an interview on Fox News to discuss Israel and the war in Iran."
This, said WSJ, was not the only notable Fetterman snub.
"In April 2025, veteran Pennsylvania state lawmaker Anthony Hardy Williams brought a busload of constituents to Washington from Eastwick, a poorer, flood-prone neighborhood in Philadelphia, to meet with their representatives in Congress and discuss Trump administration cuts to a grant program that had helped the area," Hobson and Hughes reported.
They continued, "Fetterman was the only one who refused to meet with them, Williams said in an interview. At one point, they saw Fetterman walking the halls and yelled, but he didn’t acknowledge them, according to Williams."
The Pennsylvania Democrat has repeatedly played footsie with Republicans, from accepting money from right-wing donors to vowing that he would not campaign against the Pennsylvania Republican who also represents his state in the Senate, Dave McCormick. He has also fixated on Israel as one of his main issues, vowing to leave the Democratic Party if it becomes "anti-Israel" and prioritizing concerns related to that nation's interests more than most other matters that come across his Senate desk.
Fetterman's pro-Israel positioning comes at a time when hate toward both Jews and Muslims is peaking in America. As The New Republic reported in July, “President Trump posted a captionless video of graduating kindergarteners on Truth Social on Monday, goading his supporters into verbally attacking little children simply for being Muslim,. The clip is from Gateway STEM Academy, a majority-Black K-8 public charter school in St. Paul, Minnesota. It shows about 21 children in caps and gowns on stage singing a song together. Most of the girls are wearing hijabs.” Similarly hate crimes toward Jews have been on the rise over the past few years.
Although Fetterman has equated criticizing Israel's government with hating all Jews or all Israelis, Brandeis University historian Jonathan Sarna told AlterNet in March that it is wrong for so many Americans to blame all Jews for the actions of Israel's government, observing that "if you wouldn't equate criticism of the President with hating America, there is no reason — and indeed it is wrong and wicked — to do so with regard to Israel.”
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