John Fetterman, the Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania, has recently come under fire for his baffling decision to attack a journalist who recently defended him in a news story. The journalist, Jonathan Valania of the Philadelphia Inquirer, wrote a story explaining why Fetterman was the perfect candidate to fill the state’s soon-to-be-open lieutenant governor seat, painting him as a progressive populist who could bridge the generational and political divides of the state.
In response, Fetterman attacked Valania and the Inquirer on Twitter, accusing the reporter of creating “propaganda” and claiming the paper was “hustling” to promote him. His comments quickly sparked a fierce backlash, with many pointing out that Fetterman was contradicting himself.
Though Fetterman has since apologized for his comments, many still remain baffled as to why he chose to attack a journalist who had just published a positive story about him. It’s unclear if Fetterman’s criticism of the Inquirer was done in order to score political points or simply out of frustration, but either way, it is clear that his choice of words have undermined his public image and created a backlash that will be hard to recover from.
