When I Was John Fetterman

"Who is John Fetterman? A senator, a father, a husband, a stroke survivor, a hoodie-clad body double, an oaf, and recently, a Zionist who has cemented his name as a preeminent American mouthpiece for Israel's genocide in Gaza. For a very short period of time, on a very small number of platforms, I was also John Fetterman. Or at least, I was one of the people writing in his voice and pressing "Send" from his campaign-side social media accounts."

"I only met the senator in person once or twice. I corresponded much more frequently with his wife, Gisele, whose warmth and sunny personality made her feel like a friend. By the end of my time working for Fetterman's communications firm, the dregs of those warm feelings would be gone, replaced by a resentment so palpable that it drove me out of politics altogether."

"But in the early days, I saw something in him that excited me: a candidate fluent in the informal parlance of the Internet; a man who flouted DC's fancy suits and traditions; a politician who openly called for universal healthcare and labor rights on a national stage. For a year, it was a dream come true; the realization of a progressive, idealistic fantasy."

A former campaign communications staffer wrote in Fetterman's voice on campaign social accounts, managed messaging, and engaged in online culture-war tactics. The staffer corresponded frequently with Fetterman's wife, Gisele, who initially seemed warm. Early enthusiasm centered on Fetterman's internet fluency, rejection of DC formalities, and progressive positions on universal healthcare and labor rights. The campaign framed Fetterman's hospitalization for depression as a vulnerability narrative and marketed merchandise to mock body-double conspiracies. Over time, admiration eroded into palpable resentment that prompted the staffer's exit from politics. Fetterman later adopted overtly pro-Israel positions, becoming identified as a prominent American Zionist voice on Gaza.

Read at The Nation