Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) has never been one to hold back, and he proved it again during the government shutdown. He openly criticized his own party for sparking the crisis and stood apart from Democratic leadership by voting “yes” to reopen the government from the very beginning.
That independent streak hasn’t exactly made Fetterman popular with the far left. In fact, it’s earned him plenty of backlash. During an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash about his new book, Unfettered, Fetterman revealed that “the most poisonous, the bitterest” attacks he’s ever faced didn’t come from Republicans — they came from the far-left in his own party.
?NEW: John Fetterman *STUNS* CNN's Dana Bash by telling her how Left crueler than Right?
FETTERMAN: "The Right would say really rough things and names … but on the Left, it was like they want me to die or that 'We're cheering for your next stroke' … they even have a gif… pic.twitter.com/iMRyVTssgs
— Jason Cohen ?? (@JasonJournoDC) November 12, 2025
The Carhart-clad Democrat noted that the most vitriolic hate was posted on the leftist social media haven Bluesky:
And the difference is, I mean, the right would say really rough things and names. You know, some names I won’t — I won’t repeat on, on TV. But — but — but the — on the left, it was like they want me to die or we’re cheering for your next stroke. Or that’s terrible, that depression. Why couldn’t the depression have won? And I hope your kids find you.
Fetterman shared that some on the far left even circulated a cruel “stroke gif” mocking his health struggles, with one commenter saying his doctor had “let us down” by saving his life. The remark was so vile it left CNN’s Dana Bash visibly stunned, shaking her head at the sheer nastiness of it.
Fetterman said he couldn’t understand where that kind of hate comes from — but he made one thing clear: it’s not going to silence him. He’s going to keep speaking his mind, no matter how much it infuriates the radicals in his own party.
Fetterman didn’t hold back in his book, revealing that he had a heated falling-out with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro — one so bad that their relationship has “never recovered.” The clash happened while both served on the state’s Board of Pardons. During a Zoom meeting, the two sparred over commuting prison sentences, and things quickly went off the rails.
Fetterman, furious, ended up calling Shapiro a “f—ing a—hole” — not realizing his mic was still on. The exchange got so tense that Fetterman later admitted he was so angry he even considered running against Shapiro for governor in 2022:
“I told him there were two tracks — that one and the one in which he ran for governor and I ran for the Senate (which was the one I preferred),“ Fetterman writes in his new book, “Unfettered,” as excerpted by the Philadelphia Inquirer
”I had no interest in friction, only in what I felt was justice.”
Fetterman said he believed Shapiro was motivated more by “political ambition” than by principle.
Although he acknowledged their relationship never recovered, Fetterman added that he still wished Shapiro well — though that didn’t stop him from later sharing his concerns about the Pennsylvania governor directly with Vice President Kamala Harris:
During the 2024 campaign, Fetterman privately confided his apprehension about Shapiro to former Vice President Kamala Harris’ team as they considered potential running mates, Politico reported at the time.
That may have been one of the reasons Harris chose not to select Shapiro as her running mate — and Fetterman’s remarks certainly lent weight to the questions already surrounding the Pennsylvania governor.
Instead, Harris opted for Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to join her ticket. As history shows, the decision didn’t pay off: she went on to lose Pennsylvania — and ultimately, the presidency.
