As Mia reported earlier, Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) is skipping the Democratic National Convention. It’s not a surprise given the mayhem that’s bound to engulf Chicago this week. Tens of thousands of pro-Hamas agitators have planned at least six protests where clashes with police are guaranteed. Mr. Fetterman has been one of the Democratic Party’s most vocal supporters of Israel and its justified war in Gaza—his staff, not so much.
Mr. Fetterman might be looking for a new communications director because what his senior staffer said to the media, on the record, is undoubtedly fireable and a demonstration about how kids these days don’t get it when it comes to working for someone, especially in politics. It was a quote that shocked reporter Peter Savodnik (via The Free Press) [emphasis mine]:
Literally you had one job https://t.co/j2voUOSRPr pic.twitter.com/2D8alUemId
— Lachlan Markay (@lachlan) August 19, 2024
As someone who’s worked in politics for almost two decades, I’m genuinely dumbfounded at this statement.
— Ryan James Girdusky (@RyanGirdusky) August 19, 2024
It’s never the job of a staffer to not only contradict their boss but then insult them to the press.@JohnFetterman time to find a new comms director. pic.twitter.com/GHaoIWzmmP
I’ve reiterated this at length.
— Sarah Selip (@SarahSelip) August 19, 2024
If you’re a staffer, it’s not your name on the door.
You weren’t elected.
You don’t tell your boss’s constituents your personal beliefs.
You don’t give personal quotes to the press.
You don’t express your personal opinions on the record. https://t.co/LszOlyiPL9
Being a communications staffer is like being a diplomat in one sense: You don’t have your own “views”. If she disagrees with her elected boss, she shouldn’t work for him.
— Christina Pushaw 🐊 🇺🇸 (@ChristinaPushaw) August 19, 2024
There are even people on his current staff who think he is wrong.
“I don’t agree with him” about Israel and Gaza, Carrie Adams, Fetterman’s communications director, told me in a phone call, after my interview with the senator ended.
“I have a sense that his international views are a lot less nuanced than my generation, because when he was growing up, it was might makes right, and for my generation and younger who, of course, are the ones protesting this, they have a much more nuanced view of the region,” Adams added.
I’ve been a reporter since the summer of 1998, when I covered Bill Clinton’s trip to Martha’s Vineyard for the Vineyard Gazette. This was the first time I’d ever encountered anyone—on Capitol Hill or anywhere else, on the record, off the record, on background, whatever—criticizing “the principal.”
It’s true that young people especially disagree with Fetterman. Sixty-five percent of today’s college students have a favorable opinion of the pro-Hamas encampments that took over so many university campuses last spring and are now threatening to explode back to life—on campus and at the convention, where as many as 100,000 protesters are expected.
Does Ms. Adams even know what “nuanced” means—there’s nothing nuanced about antisemitism and the lust to kill all Jews which is Hamas’ stated goal and ingrained in the chants for global intifada.
If you can’t reconcile your views with that of your boss and understand your position, you can’t work in government. Period. Many were noting how a staffer for a member of Congress is a soft diplomat position. Your job isn’t to nurse your political disposition; it’s to represent, defend, and advocate for the views of your boss. Your personal attitudes take a back seat out of professionalism and the sheer fact that no one elected you.
This is a fireable offense, and something that could blacklist you from the Hill.
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