On MS NOW, Chris Hayes looks at the reporting raising bigger questions about Fetterman’s work in the Senate: <\/p>\n
CHRIS HAYES, MS NOW HOST: There hasn’t been a lot of news out of this convention, but one of the big pieces of news, one of the big storylines to come out of the Republican midterm convention is not about a Republican. Last night, Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania angered Democrats with a surprise appearance in a heavily, heavily edited video introducing his Republican counterpart and his friend, he says, Senator Dave McCormick. It comes after months of sustained speculation about whether Fetterman will switch parties. Lately, he has been a harsh critic of Democrats and a darling on Fox News where he makes regular appearances. Now, in a statement to reporters last night after that video aired, Fetterman said he will remain a Democrat even if they take back the Senate, that he votes with the party north of 90% of the time. But beyond the partisan political issues, which matter a lot right now, right? It controls the Senate. I got to say that as someone who’s known him, interviewed him for over a decade, there’s a deeper question of whether he is still willing and able to do his job. The Wall Street Journal reports he’s increasingly uninterested in the day-to-day work of governing, blowing off committee hearings as well as meetings with constituents and state officials and even administrators of a children’s hospital from Philadelphia who came to D.C. to talk to him. In June, Fetterman claimed he was sick to get out of a meeting with paralyzed veterans from rural Pennsylvania. Shortly after the Journal reports, he walked into his office completely fine to get ready for an interview on Fox. Now that is all according to interviews with more than a dozen former staffers and lawmakers as well as text messages and other internal records. It’s a really disturbing set of allegations coming from the people who work directly with Fetterman and I can’t tell you how absolutely rare this is in Washington. Fetterman has dismissed the article, he’s accused the Journal of smears and half-truths. One thing does seem very clear, Senator Fetterman is a person who has changed profoundly in the last few years. And a lot of people in politics and around the senator are wondering what exactly is going on.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n