A video of Democratic Senator John Fetterman arguing with a pilot has resurfaced after a bombshell report raised concerns over his mental health.
Fetterman had been traveling to Pittsburgh earlier this year when he started arguing with the pilot after refusing to wear his seat belt in a way that it was visible.
In the clip, the pilot could be heard saying: ‘It needs to be visible to the crew at all times, that’s a federal regulation.’
Fetterman talked back to the pilot and raised his hands, before the pilot responded: ‘If you want to go to Pittsburgh, it’s simple.’
‘You’re going to have to follow our instructions or be asked to get off the airplane’, he added while offering Fetterman a belt extender so it didn’t have to go under his sweatshirt.
The pilot and three members of crew could also be seen staring at Fetterman in the brief clip before it ended.
The video’s resurfacing comes after claims from current and former staffers that Fetterman is not well and has been behaving erratically since being treated for depression.
In a report by New York Magazine, several individuals have made concerning accusations against him and claimed he is not making his medication.
Fetterman had been traveling to Pittsburgh earlier this year when he started arguing with the pilot after refusing to wear his seat belt in a way that it was visible
It comes after claims from current and former staffers that Fetterman is not well and has been behaving erratically since being treated for depression
Only one staffer was willing to go public with the claims and Fetterman has denied them.
Some of the anonymous staffers shared marital strife and political disagreements with his wife Gisele.
Former Chief of Staff Adam Jentleson is the most public face of the story, titled ‘The Hidden Struggle of John Fetterman.’
One year after Fetterman’s release from the traumatic-brain-injury and neuropsychiatry unit at Walter Reed Hospital, Jentleson wrote a letter the division’s director who treated Fetterman there.
‘I think John is on a bad trajectory and I’m really worried about him,’ Jentleson wrote in the 1,600-word email with the subject line: ‘Concerns.’
He added that the senator ‘won’t be with us for much longer’ if he doesn’t change his behavior, with Jentleson claiming these are ‘the things you said to flag, so I am flagging.’
One of the things he was told to flag: that Fetterman purchased a gun, though Jentleson admits the senator ‘takes all the necessary precautions, and living where he does I understand the desire for personal protection.’
Jentleson is referring to the hard-scrabble small town of Braddock where Fetterman served as mayor and still lives.
John Fetterman’s current and former staffers have lashed out at their boss, claiming the Pennsylvania Senator is not well and has behave erratically since being treated for depression
The Pennsylvanian had been the only Democratic senator to grace the halls of Mar-a-Lago after Trump’s historic second win in November
Fetterman is accused of everything from the physical – ‘not taking his meds’ to eating fast-food multiple times a day – to the mental – lying, ‘self-centered monologues,’ ‘conspiratorial thinking; megalomania’ – among his issues.
The senator is also allegedly obsessed with social media despite admitting it was an ‘accelerant’ of his depression and driving ‘recklessly’ to the point that staffers refused to ride with him and a police officer said it was ‘a miracle no one died’ after one accident last June.
Jentleson also argued that ‘every person who was supposed to help him stay on his recovery plan has been pushed out.’
The former chief of staff later said in an interview a year after writing the letter that he’s telling his side of the story because he believes Fetterman’s trajectory has taken him out of consideration to lead the Democrats going forward.
‘Part of the tragedy here is that this is a man who could be leading Democrats out of the wilderness but I also think he’s struggling in a way that shouldn’t be hidden from the public.’
Fetterman’s campaign is also reportedly bleeding money and losing small-dollar donors ever since he met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago.
Fetterman is seen here speaking at a Democratic event just outside of Pittsburgh last November
Not everyone on Fetterman’s staff and in his personal life have been happy with Fetterman’s choices as of late. His wife, Gisele, (pictured) did not want to make the trip to Mar-a-Lago
The author, Ben Terris, spoke to Fetterman ahead of publication and got a text message from him asking: ‘Why is this a story?’
He added that the number of staffers leaving is typical for Washington and he is the ‘best version’ of himself right now.
Fetterman also denied claims that toward the beginning of his first term, he had to be spoken to for ‘an hour’ with staffers ‘trying to trying to convince him, to talk him out of some crazy fantasy’ that he wouldn’t be allowed in the Senate.
He also said there is no truth to accusations that he began to ‘sour’ on his own party after bipartisan efforts to prevent him from wearing his trademark hoodie and shorts to the Senate floor.
Things became somewhat more complicated when asked about arguments over Gaza; he is a staunch Israel supporter, and has met with Trump with his wife Gisele, herself having come to the U.S. as an illegal migrant. Gisele reportedly did not want to join the meeting.
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Fetterman called their disagreements ‘very common in political marriage’ and said Gisele ‘has her own voice’.
Gisele, for her part, told New York Magazine that Jentleson is trying to harm her husband and lied to her about his health.
The Pennsylvanian had been the only Democrat senator to grace the halls of Mar-a-Lago after Trump’s historic second win in November.
He described Trump’s mental acumen as strong as ever while speaking to the New York Magazine about the visit.
The meeting went smoothly, lasting around 75 minutes, and Fetterman came out thinking the president had a different persona than he does in public and had ‘fully engaged’ in the conversation.
‘His faculties haven’t slipped at all,’ he told the magazine. ‘It’s not that I admire it – I acknowledge it, and if you don’t, you do it at your own peril politically.’
Fetterman has also been keen to get to know Trump’s top cabinet picks, which has led him to also meet with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
He even voted for Attorney General Pam Bondi, making him the only Democrat to do so.