Why Fetterman's Old Top Aide Is Talking About Him on TV
NPR aired a 6-minute, 12-second segment Sept. 14, 2026, titled "What's next for Senator John Fetterman?" NPR
Host Juana Summers spoke with Adam Jentleson. He used to be chief of staff to Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa. Summers said they would talk about recent reports on Fetterman's job performance.
The talk came after Jentleson was on CNN News Central Sept. 10. Host John Berman asked him about accounts from former staff members about Fetterman. CNN
The two shows put a former top aide in a rare spot — talking in public about his old boss. A chief of staff is like an office manager for a Senate office. He runs the staff and decides who gets to see the senator. Jentleson had that job and is now speaking from the outside.
Fetterman has said the two split in December 2023, when Jentleson took action that put his private medical records at risk. That was reported in May 2025. New York Magazine
Fetterman won election in November 2022 and started as U.S. senator from Pennsylvania on Jan. 3, 2023. Health questions go back to the campaign. In October 2022, he led Mehmet Oz 51% to 49%, down from a 5-point lead in mid-September 2022. Reuters
Since then he has had several health problems. He spent six weeks in hospital care after a stroke months before. He went to the hospital briefly in February 2023 after feeling light-headed. Doctors said it was not a new stroke.
He went back to Senate work April 17, 2023, after weeks of care for depression. Reuters He went to the hospital in November 2025 after a fall on an early morning walk. A spokesperson said then he was doing well and under routine watch. Reuters
The broader context here is about who is talking. In the Senate, criticism with a name attached is taken differently than unnamed reports. It also carries more risk, because Senate offices run on trust and privacy.
Looking at how reporters will handle this story, there are now two public accounts. One is the former staffers' accounts about performance, which Jentleson was asked about on CNN and NPR. The other is Fetterman's statement that Jentleson put his private medical records at risk. That dispute does not answer the performance questions. It will affect how reporters, colleagues and people in Pennsylvania politics decide who to believe.
