Senator John Fetterman’s doting wife, Gisele Barreto Fetterman, has not been seen around Capitol Hill despite concerns over her husband’s health.
Her absence comes after a New York Magazine article blew the lid off of the 55-year-old Pennsylvania senator’s closely guarded health history.
During his Senate campaign in May 2022, Fetterman, aged 55, experienced a stroke. Since then, he has relied on an iPhone to convert incoming questions due to ongoing audio-visual challenges resulting from the stroke.
Former and current aides of Fetterman have observed a shift in his demeanor. Some describe him as despondent, while others perceive him as ‘manic’ and ‘unhinged’ in recent times.
The report also highlights Fetterman’s hospitalization at Walter Reed near Washington in March 2023 for depression. It notes his failure to adhere to the prescribed rehabilitation plan, which involved regular blood tests and medication.
Gisele, 43, initially had a high profile around her husband’s office after he won the election and was recovering from his stroke.
But now sources are telling Daily Mail she hasn’t been seen with the senator at all this year, despite concerns over her his health.
‘I haven’t seen her once,’ one Senate staffer, granted anonymity to protect their identity, told the Daily Mail about Gisele’s recent appearances on Capitol Hill.
A recent NY Mag article detailed the health struggles Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., has been enduring. It also shed light on several fights between the senator and his wife, Gisele
John Fetterman and Wife Gisele Barreto Fetterman. Sources tell Daily Mail that Gisele has not been spotted around the senator’s office as reports of his health have been circulating
Gisele was often spotted around Captiol Hill when her husband was first elected. When interviewed last January by the Daily Mail, Fetterman said his wife was in his office at the time
The source added that it may be because Fetterman ‘hasn’t seemed off despite all the crazy s*** I’ve seen online.’
In an interview with the Daily Mail in January 2024, Fetterman noted how his wife was upstairs in his office at the time, highlighting the couple’s close relationship amid the senator’s busy congressional schedule.
It is hard to say the extent that Gisele has been around on Capitol Hill, but it appears it is a notable drop off from when the Democrat first arrived to Washington.
The recent bombshell report from NY Mag detailed the alleged spats Fetterman and his wife would get in as staffers huddled working close by. Gisele’s concern with her husband’s behavior in the article was on full display.
The Pennsylvania Democrat has been an outspoken supporter of Israel in its war against Hamas.
Fetterman, largely seen as the most pro-Israel Democratic senator, regularly defends the nation’s conduct in its war.
His support for Israel not only ruffled the feathers of his colleagues, but reportedly those of his family as well.
‘They are bombing refugee camps. How can you support this?’ Gisele asked her husband shortly after the October 7 attack, a staffer recalled while speaking to NY Mag.
The NY Mag article sheds light on a car crash Fetterman got into with his wife last year. He allegedly admitted to falling asleep at the wheel after taking a red-eye flight the night before
Gisele later texted another staffer a few days later: ‘I am at breaking point and I can’t co-sign this any longer. Id love some help in language to separate myself from this. Can anyone help me?’
The most recent blow up, according to staffers cited in the report, came after the Democrat took a last-minute trip to Connecticut in March without telling anyone.
‘I took a weekend trip in March to visit the grave site of my friend from grad school who died in 1993 — a trip my staff and family knew about,’ Fetterman told NY Mag.
But according to the report, Gisele and the staff had no idea where the senator was or what he was up to. The aide was at a loss when Gisele asked them why her husband was going to miss their child’s birthday.
Another staffer told Daily Mail: ‘I haven’t seen her recently, but I didn’t see her a ton before.’
They did add that Fetterman has recently been spotted sitting in a courtyard outside of his office during the middle of the work day.
‘Not exactly a health thing as much as just an interesting way to spend the work day,’ the Senate staffer said. ‘Just strange to see a senator chilling in the sunny courtyard during the workday.’
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
US Senator John Fetterman (L) and his wife Gisele Barreto Fetterman arrive for the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) dinner at the Washington Hilton, in Washington, DC, on April 27, 2024
‘Usually they are so busy and can barely squeeze [things] in their schedule,’ they added.
The Pennsylvania couple got into another spat after a Senate physician allegedly spotted Fetterman ‘acting bizarrely’ near the Senate subway.
After witnessing the senator almost run a group of tourists over, seemingly unaware of his surroundings, the physician called the senator’s office, who ran the story by Gisele, the NY Mag reports.
Gisele then called Fetterman and shared the concerns. ‘That’s not true and I guess I am not talking to you today,’ he reportedly responded.
Gisele also pleaded with the physician and with the senator’s staff to not allow Fetterman to access his X account at this time: ‘Please promise me that he’ll never have access.’
The Democrat has been seen by many as a member of his party made for the Trump era and he has even made overtures toward his political enemies since the inauguration
The Fetterman family together at the White House in 2022
‘I told him I don’t want to talk to him until his blood is tested,’ Gisele wrote to one of the staffers.
In December 2024, the couple got into another fight that was overheard by Fetterman’s staff.
‘Who did I marry? Where is the man I married?’ she allegedly asked her husband.
When approached by NY Mag for comment, Gisele blamed her husband’s staff, particularly his former chief of staff Adam Jentleson, for ginning up fake stories.
‘Those doctors would tell me that their concerns were not with John, but with Adam,’ she told the outlet. ‘Any alleged ‘concerns’ heard from me came straight from those lies, not from John’s doctors or my own eyes.’
Fetterman’s office did not respond to Daily Mail’s request for comment.
