Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was meeting last week with representatives from a teachers union in his home state when things quickly devolved.

Before long, Fetterman began repeating himself, shouting and questioning why “everybody is mad at me,” “why does everyone hate me, what did I ever do” and slamming his hands on a desk, according to one person who was briefed on what occurred.

As the meeting deteriorated, a staff member moved to end it and ushered the visitors into the hallway, where she broke down crying. The staffer was comforted by the teachers who were themselves rattled by Fetterman’s behavior, according to a second person who was briefed separately on the meeting.

    • Optional@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Y’know, trump is literally demented and a malignant narcissist. The article talks about Fetterman repeating himself over and over - we’ve already seen multiple staffers describe trump doing exactly this. Does throwing a plate full of ketchup at the wall count as an ‘outburst’? He’s got more. A lot more.

      Just sayin. He does this shit daily and doesn’t get an AP article written about it. Both of them need to step down but only one of them would ever be pressed by their own party.

      • AbidanYre@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        The article talks about Fetterman repeating himself over and over - we’ve already seen multiple staffers describe trump doing exactly this.

        That Last Week Tonight bit with the interview about Abrego Garcia was painful to watch.

        • TheDoozer@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          That journalist was doing their very best to let him off the hook and move on. That wasn’t even a gotcha situation, he even conceded that the tattoos could be interpretted as MS-13 bit that he was no expert, and tried to move on. But Trump wouldn’t let it go, and kept trying to pull it back to “it wasn’t photoshop, he actually had the MS13 tattooed in print on his knuckles” and openly said that the journalist should just say yes and accept it before he’d move on. Jesus.

    • PolarKraken@sh.itjust.works
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      2 months ago

      So be it. It’s been a LONG time in this state. That sucks for him. The outsized damage he’s able to do makes me unsympathetic. He’s just one guy. Boo fucking hoo. The extraordinary damage happening to countless lives in this fucking country today, and we need to have a chat about how much compassion to give this guy? Again, get real!

      Edit: I guess your point is about his own inability to see the problem, which I acknowledge. I don’t think he’s due any outsized compassion, at all.

        • mister_flibble@lemm.ee
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          2 months ago

          At this point, I’m more upset at whoever is in his orbit and is not at least attempting to take Grampa’s car keys away

        • PolarKraken@sh.itjust.works
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          2 months ago

          I just don’t agree. It’s more like being upset at an Alzheimer’s patient for totally blowing an important debate.

            • PolarKraken@sh.itjust.works
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              2 months ago

              That was a reference to Biden, and the fact that it should not come to this, and when it does, compassion for the patient is obviously the wrong thing to prioritize.

              Edit: clarity

                • PolarKraken@sh.itjust.works
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                  2 months ago

                  We’re just talking in circles my friend. My original and only point is that focusing on compassion for him when discussing the problem is misguided at best. At worst, it’s exactly the thing you’re describing - making the conversation entirely unproductive, and avoiding the serious problem, getting focused on this very typical moralizing we on the left do.

                  Fuck John Fetterman, and fuck any person who demands compassion for him be prioritized in the conversation. If we disagree, we disagree, I don’t think I can make my point any more clearly. I regard anyone demanding the wrong things be discussed as - intentionally or not - helping the fascists. This is not a poorly thought out point of view, it’s not a shallowly held conviction, and I’m just about finished even discussing it.

      • Plebcouncilman@sh.itjust.works
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        2 months ago

        Compassion should not be reserved only for those that are good, but for everyone, and I think especially for those that are bad and may not realize that they are bad. Right and wrong are not black and white things and it is very difficult to be objective about one’s own situation, and realizing that hey “I’m doing wrong”. In this case I would argue that for Fetterman, he might not even yet realize how irrational his behavior is, maybe even the people around him have not fully realized it. So instead of trying to eat him alive, you can point it out, explain how his actions are harming people and kindly ask that he step down instead of acting rabid about it. Berating him is not gonna make him want to step down more than being kind about it so you might as well be kind, unless this is about realizing some kind of gratification for you.

        • PolarKraken@sh.itjust.works
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          2 months ago

          I don’t care. You are completely missing the point. Everything you said is obviously, like painfully obviously, true in a general sense. It’s Morality 101.

          Do you see the state of this place?? Are you aware that Fetterman has been causing these kinds of problems for a LONG time now, and do you agree that we desperately need every fucking scrap of pull to bring this country and it’s people back from the brink?

          Giving a shit about the man’s well-being is someone else’s goddamn job. Miss me with your pearl clutching bullshit.