Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was meeting last week with representatives from a teachers union in his home state when things quickly devolved.

Before long, Fetterman began repeating himself, shouting and questioning why “everybody is mad at me,” “why does everyone hate me, what did I ever do” and slamming his hands on a desk, according to one person who was briefed on what occurred.

As the meeting deteriorated, a staff member moved to end it and ushered the visitors into the hallway, where she broke down crying. The staffer was comforted by the teachers who were themselves rattled by Fetterman’s behavior, according to a second person who was briefed separately on the meeting.

  • Maiq@lemy.lol
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    1 day ago

    They let Feinstein legislate with full blown dementia. As long as they can do what the lobbyists paid them to, these kinds of people likely aren’t going anywhere. It costs a bit of money to own a representative and their owners want as much ROI as possible.

    • anarchiddy@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1 day ago

      I mean, that sounds so reductive to me, but it’s the only thing that makes sense.

      He’s paranoid and seeing shadows, but he supports Israel so it doesn’t matter if he’s losing his mind. As long as his hallucinations are telling him to vote with the major party positions, they might as well just be another staff advisor.

      I think the dems are trying hard to resist the popular momentum in the progressive side of the party, and letting his seat be re-filled would open a vulnerability. There’s a small chance that a special election would cause them to lose the seat entirely, but the nationwide sentiment is in their favor - it seems to me they’re more worried about a progressive challenger. But that’s just speculation.