Updated November 11, 2025 at 5:41 PM EST
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Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) often finds himself at odds with his party.
He's unapologetically pro-Israel at a time when fewer members of Democrats are. He spent the fall railing against the federal government shutdown and he, along with a few other Senate Democrats, broke from the party and struck a deal with Republicans.
"It's always been wrong for us to shut the government down," he told NPR. "Rightly, [Democrats] criticize the Republicans when they've shut the government down. It's wrong. It's reckless."
In an interview with All Things Considered host Scott Detrow, Fetterman posed a question to his critics: "What exactly am I guilty of?"
"I suffered from depression and I made a recovery and I won an election," he said. "And I went on to be an unapologetic supporter of Israel. And I happen to think that we have to have a secure border and I think it's wrong to shut our government down."
Fetterman spoke with NPR in a conversation tied to his new memoir, Unfettered, about his 2022 Senate campaign that saw him suffer a stroke and fall into a deep depression.
The interview text below has been edited for length and clarity.
Interview highlights
Scott Detrow: This is a book about an election cycle where you suffered a stroke and you struggled with serious depression.
Sen. John Fetterman: Profound depression. Honestly, I know millions of Americans suffer from it.
And when you hear the expression that you can't get out of your bed — that's true.
Detrow: Last time I interviewed you, you had just returned to the Senate from Walter Reed [National Military Medical Center]. It was a pretty emotional conversation. You were still processing your treatment and what came next.
I wanted to ask a little bit about that because there's parts of this book where it seems like you're saying that you've, at times, regretted being so open about your mental health struggles. Is that accurate?
Fetterman: No. I don't regret it.
But people have been willing to use it or to create an impression that's just not true. And it's an honest conversation because a lot of people have had those things. And I've had a lot of people reach out to me over the years since and it's an honor to speak to people, to their experience, because sometimes people can feel alone.
And I've always wanted to make that conversation as simple as it can to just stay in this game. Because I've had people in my life make the decision to leave. And that's not a fail, they didn't fail. But that's a decision that they can't come back [from]. And how heartbreaking that is and how sad that is.
Detrow: You're talking about suicide.
Fetterman: Yeah, absolutely.
It's not a weakness. And that's [I want to be] a voice saying, "hey, look, that's a lie. I don't know what your recovery looks like, but as long as you stay in it, I promise you you will get better."
Detrow: I want to ask about Israel. You were very out front about [supporting Israel]. You never changed your tune. I'm wondering, as the Israeli attacks and bombing of Gaza continued, were there any points where you second guessed the place that you had staked yourself?
Fetterman: [Israel] had an opportunity to take out the Iranian nuclear facilities. I was the only Democrat that supported that. I was actually charging for those things. You know, that comes from Trump. Well, then I happen to agree with it. And now, can you imagine if they would have acquired a nuclear weapon there? And now what is behind this constant violence there? Is it Israel or it's because Iran funding these proxies like Hamas and Hezbollah doing these kinds of terrible things. And that war would have ended when you sent back all the hostages.
Detrow: So, at no point in the conflict did the balance shift for you as you thought about this in the context of 69,000 Palestinians dead?
Fetterman: No one breaks down how many actual Hamas fighters or other people that were involved in that. So, we're not really sure.
The only time you see members in Hamas is when they're handing over funerals and rallying. Otherwise, they embed themselves in the civilians and they were forced to fight a war through an urban situation.
Why can't people condemn putting tunnels under hospitals and embedding themselves in where civilians are? And you know, because they can't fight a real war. So, that's why they use civilians as human shields. And that's the tragedy.
The digital version was adapted for web by Kai McNamee and edited by Karen Zamora.
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