Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania recently shared his reflections on his first six months in the Senate during an interview with The New York Times.
In a conversation marked by frankness, Fetterman provided a less-than-glowing appraisal of the Senate’s current state, intertwined with deeply personal insights into his struggles with depression.
“The Senate is more focused on drama than governance,” Fetterman stated, expressing frustration over what he sees as its misplaced priorities.
“There’s a fixation on a lot of dumb sh-t. Bad performance art is really what it gets down to. The debt ceiling — there should have been no drama with any of that,” he continued.
Fetterman expressed alarm at the political tactics used, stating, “The fact that we’re playing with something like that is antithetical to the stability of our democracy. It really is.”
“Everything is turning into a culture war,” he said. “Not everything has to be a think piece, you know.”
In addition to sharing his views on the Senate, Fetterman also bravely opened up about his battle with depression, a struggle that led him to seek treatment at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and work remotely for over a month.
Speaking about his mental health challenges, Fetterman said, “It’s a burden, but a privilege, too, to talk about it. It’s also an opportunity to be very bipartisan.”
His words extended beyond political boundaries, offering a compassionate message for those dealing with similar conditions: “Red or blue, if you have depression, get help, please. Don’t ever, ever, ever harm yourself. Do not leave behind a blueprint of that.”
This honest dialogue about depression revealed a man grappling with not just the pressures of office but the weight of mental health issues.
“In my own situation, in my very lowest, I started thinking about [self-harm],” Fetterman confessed. He recognized the responsibility he carried, especially as a public figure, to not perpetuate the notion of self-harm as a solution.
When questioned about his popularity, the senator expressed confusion. “I don’t know; it doesn’t make any sense to me at all. I don’t get it,” he admitted.
“I’ll never understand it. I don’t know why my wife married me,” he continued. “In the movie ‘Groundhog Day,’ Bill Murray’s character says something like, ‘You think I’m arrogant? No, I don’t even like me.’ That’s me. I don’t even like me. That’s the truth.”
Despite his mental health struggles, Fetterman’s capacity to perform his duties has been a subject of debate, particularly in light of his stroke last year. His speech and vision impairments are so significant that he requires closed-captioning for interviews.
These ongoing challenges have resulted in criticism about his legislative efficacy, with critics pointing out instances of seeming incoherence during public events.
However, Fetterman’s office continues to refute these claims, stating his auditory processing problems do not impede his ability to serve as senator.
As Fetterman completes his first six months in the Senate, his personal battles with depression, along with his seeming struggles to follow and perform his duties on the job, certainly make his political future uncertain, if he even wants it.
