Age, Biography, and Wiki
John Fetterman was born on August 15, 1969, in York, Pennsylvania. As of 2025, he is 55 years old. He is a prominent American politician known for his tenure as the Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania and his current role as a U.S. Senator. Fetterman gained national attention for his unconventional approach to politics and his efforts in revitalizing communities, particularly in Braddock, Pennsylvania, where he served as mayor.
| Occupation | Football Players |
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| Date of Birth | 15 August 1969 |
| Age | 55 Years |
| Birth Place | West Reading, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Horoscope | Leo |
| Country | U.S |
Height, Weight & Measurements
While specific details about John Fetterman's height and weight are not widely documented, he is often noted for his tall stature and imposing figure.
Fetterman was criticized for an incident in North Braddock in January 2013 when he heard a sound he thought was gunfire and followed an unarmed jogger, whom he detained with a shotgun. The jogger, Chris Miyares, a Black American, said that what Fetterman thought were gunshots were kids shooting bottle rockets. Fetterman said no debris had been found. Miyares claimed that Fetterman pointed the shotgun at his chest while he loaded the gun and then aimed the gun at his face. Fetterman denies that he pointed the gun at Miyares and said he only pointed the gun in a way to show that he was armed and that he "didn't even have a round chambered or the safety off." He said he believed he "did the right thing" and has not apologized. No charges were brought against either in connection with the incident, and Miyares never filed a formal complaint.
In 2018, Fetterman spoke publicly about his substantial weight loss. Fetterman, who is 6 ft tall, had weighed more than 400 lb before losing approximately 150 lb.
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Dating & Relationship Status
Fetterman is married to Gisele Barreto Fetterman, a Brazilian-American activist. They have three children together and are known for their strong family commitment.
Eventually they moved to York, Pennsylvania, where Fetterman grew up and his father became a partner at an insurance firm. He grew up in an affluent suburb of York, and his parents were conservative Republicans. Fetterman has said he had a privileged upbringing. He said he "sleepwalked" as a young adult while playing four years of football in college, intending eventually to take over ownership of his father's business. In 1991, Fetterman graduated from Albright College, also his father's alma mater, with a bachelor's in finance. He also received a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Connecticut (UConn) in 1993. For two years Fetterman worked in Pittsburgh as a risk-management underwriter for Chubb.
While Fetterman was studying at UConn, his best friend died in a car accident. Following the tragedy, Fetterman joined Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, pairing with an eight-year-old boy in New Haven, Connecticut, whose father had died from AIDS and whose mother was slowly dying from the disease. During his time as a mentor, Fetterman says he became "preoccupied with the concept of the random lottery of birth", and promised the boy's mother he would continue to look out for her son after she was gone.
Fetterman's father helped subsidize Fetterman financially because the position of mayor paid only $150 per month. He received payments of $54,000 from his father in 2015. Fetterman has several tattoos related to the Braddock community. On his left arm are the numbers 15104—Braddock's ZIP Code—and on the right are the dates of nine murders that occurred in the town while he was mayor.
Braddock mayors hold administrative power over the Braddock Police Department, but Fetterman delegated that power to Braddock Police Chief Frank DeBartolo for the sake of efficiency. Fetterman aimed to improve the relationship between Braddock's residents and the police by serving as a mediator during disputes. During his tenure as mayor, Braddock's homicide rate fell substantially; for five years, there were no gun-related murders in Braddock.
In 2006, Fetterman opposed the expansion of Mon-Fayette Expressway, a partially completed four-lane highway that connects Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia. He argued that the planned expansion of the expressway would cut straight through Braddock and destroy the town. While mayor, Fetterman had a contentious relationship with the town council and did not attend many council meetings. In 2009, members of the town council attempted to have him removed from a town council meeting and arrested after he criticized a political opponent while delivering his mayoral report. The same year, council president Jesse Brown ordered Braddock's code enforcement officer to cite Fetterman for an occupancy permit violation for a building owned by Fetterman's nonprofit. A judge later dismissed the complaint. To avoid the town council's gridlock, Fetterman used his nonprofit to accomplish many of his ideas for Braddock; this approach limited citizens' input into the projects.
Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election in Pennsylvania, defeating Trump by less than 81,000 votes. Trump's claims of voter fraud led to a challenge of the results, and Texas attorney general Ken Paxton filed suit to overturn the election results in Pennsylvania and other states. Supporting that effort, Texas lieutenant governor Dan Patrick offered a reward of $1,000,000 to anyone who could prove a case of fraud in the affected states. Fetterman responded by certifying that Pennsylvania had discovered three cases of voter fraud; two men had cast ballots as their dead mothers (both for Trump), and another had voted on behalf of his son as well as himself (also for Trump). Fetterman said that Patrick should pay $1 million for each of these cases. He said he was proud to announce that Trump "got 100% of the dead mother vote" in Pennsylvania. Fetterman's lampooning of the alleged voting fraud received nationwide publicity.
Fetterman won the Democratic primary by a landslide with 58.7% of the vote to Lamb's 26.3%. He won every county including Philadelphia County, but struggled to win much of the city's black vote—capturing just 18% of the vote in the majority-black precincts. Fetterman's wife Gisele gave a victory speech on her husband's behalf, as he was hospitalized following a stroke.
Fetterman strongly supports Israel and the Israel–United States relationship. During his campaign, he said that as a U.S. senator he would "lean in" on the "relationship between the United States and Israel", adding that the U.S.–Israel relationship "is a special one that needs to be safeguarded, protected, supported and nurtured through legislation and all available diplomatic efforts in the region". He supports United States military aid to Israel, including Iron Dome funding. Fetterman criticized congressional Democrats who voted against Iron Dome funding, calling them "fringe" and "extreme". He has said he supports "Israel's right to defend itself" and is "passionate" in his opposition to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. He supported an anti-BDS law signed by Pennsylvania governor Tom Wolf that barred Pennsylvania from entering into contracts with companies that boycott Israel. He supports a two-state solution and the expansion of the Abraham Accords, the Arab-Israeli agreements brokered under the Trump administration.
Fetterman has called himself "perhaps the most pro-immigration member of the Senate" and has criticized the House Republican majority of the 118th United States Congress for what he perceives as unwillingness to compromise on border policy. He has called the issue "very personal" and important to him, connecting his views to his wife's status as a "DREAMer". But Fetterman has repeatedly expressed concern about the Mexico–United States border crisis, viewing the scale as unsustainable and calling for a bipartisan "reset" on border policy. This comment earned him criticism from progressives, causing many commentators to characterize it as an ideological break from his party. In a December 2023 interview, Fetterman said "I'm not a progressive" in regard to immigration.
On June 9, 2024, Fetterman and his wife were involved in a two-car crash in Maryland. They were hospitalized but quickly released. Fetterman was found to be at fault for the crash after rear-ending another vehicle while speeding.
Fetterman made a cameo appearance in the 2022 film The Pale Blue Eye. In December 2022, he posted a photo of himself and his wife alongside actor Christian Bale on the set of the film. Fetterman also worked with Bale and the film's director, Scott Cooper, in 2013, when they filmed Out of the Furnace in Braddock.
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| Husband | Gisele Barreto Almeida (m. 2008) |
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Net Worth and Salary
As of 2025, John Fetterman's net worth is estimated to be around $1.6 million, according to Quiver Quantitative. His annual salary as a U.S. Senator is $217,610. Fetterman's net worth has been reported variably, with some sources estimating it between $717,000 and $1.58 million.
During Fetterman's mayoral tenure, several Braddock residents, including the members of the town council, criticized him for his media appearances that emphasized what they saw as negative aspects of the town. Jesse Brown, Braddock's former town council president, said Fetterman "needs to tone down his rhetoric about the community and the bad shape the community is in and the devastation of the housing... If he feels that the community is bankrupt, then he needs to go somewhere where he'd like it." In 2018, Tony Buba, a Braddock-based filmmaker, said: "[Fetterman is] this big presence, and everyone thinks he's John Wayne, [but it is] not that simple." Buba pointed out that while Fetterman was mayor, Braddock's population had stagnated, and while the average income had grown, it was still only $25,000 per household.
In the general election, Fetterman faced Republican nominee Mehmet Oz, a celebrity television doctor. According to The Philadelphia Citizen, Fetterman employed a social media campaign strategy consisting of shitposting and internet memes. The Daily Beast reported that Oz's New Jersey residency, net worth, and connections to Donald Trump were the focus of many of the memes. Criticizing Oz's previous residency in New Jersey became a particular hallmark of Fetterman's campaign, seeking to label Oz a carpetbagger. Efforts by the campaign to highlight Oz's New Jersey ties included enlisting New Jersey celebrities Snooki and Steven Van Zandt to record video messages aimed at Oz, and having a plane banner fly over the Jersey Shore reading "Hey Dr. Oz: Welcome home to N.J.! ❤️ John."
Business and Investments
- Real Estate: Fetterman owns several properties, including a notable purchase of a home in Braddock for $30,000 in 2001. He also owns a commercial property there.
- Investments: His investment portfolio includes a mix of retirement accounts and stock holdings, with assets valued between $717,000 and $1.58 million.
Fetterman studied finance at Albright College and earned a master's degree from the University of Connecticut before beginning a professional career in the insurance industry. He went on to join AmeriCorps and earned a Master of Public Policy degree from Harvard University. Fetterman's service with AmeriCorps led him to Braddock, where he moved in 2004 and was elected mayor the following year. As mayor, Fetterman sought to revitalize the former steel town through art and youth programs.
After beginning a corporate career at Chubb, an insurance firm, Fetterman joined the recently founded AmeriCorps in 1995 and was sent to teach Pittsburgh students pursuing their GEDs. He later attended Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University, graduating in 1999 with a Master of Public Policy degree.
Fetterman pitched Braddock to people around the country as a place to move due to the town's low real estate prices. The town has attracted people from cities such as Chicago and Portland, Oregon, drawn by the potential for growth. Inspired by Fetterman's call, a group of Brooklyn residents moved to Braddock and transformed an abandoned church into an art center. But Braddock's redevelopment raised concerns about gentrification. Despite Fetterman's attempts to attract new residents to Braddock, the population continued to hover around 2,000, and even though the town's real estate was cheap, many of the homes were condemned or uninhabitable.
In November 2010, Fetterman was arrested and immediately released after refusing to leave the property of the U.S. Steel Tower in Pittsburgh while protesting the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's controversial closure of Braddock Hospital. The Braddock Hospital was Braddock's largest employer, and its closure left the town without a healthcare provider.
Fetterman appeared on the Colbert Report on February 25, 2009, discussing the economic difficulties his town faced due to a decreasing population, plummeting real estate values, and bankruptcy. He also questioned why funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 could not be used to support projects such as those in Braddock.
In 2010, Levi Strauss & Company donated money towards Braddock's revitalization and featured the town in an advertising campaign and documentary produced by the Sundance Channel.
An Associated Press review of Fetterman's daily schedule during his tenure as lieutenant governor found that he kept a light work schedule and was often absent from official state business. From his inauguration in January 2019 until May 2022, Fetterman's official schedule was blank for one-third of workdays. Additionally, the days that he worked were often short, ranging from four to five hours. He was often absent from presiding over the Pennsylvania State Senate, an official duty of the lieutenant governor. In 2020, he attended only half of the Senate's sessions; in 2021, he attended only a third of them.
The lieutenant governor has very little actual power, but does oversee the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons. In this position, Fetterman worked to increase commutations and pardons for those serving jail time in Pennsylvania. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Fetterman ran the Board of Pardons "with the heart of an activist and, at times, the force of a bully". The Inquirer also reported that he threatened to run against Attorney General Josh Shapiro (who, at the time, was planning a run for governor) unless Shapiro supported more pardons.
Fetterman supported Trump's decision to pull $400 million in federal funding from Columbia University over what the Trump administration characterized as a failure to crack down on antisemitism on campus. He has also supported Trump's crackdown on college student protesters. He has hosted no town-hall-style events since Trump's inauguration. Fetterman has criticized the support of some Senate Democrats for Mahmoud Khalil over his opposition to the Gaza war, calling Columbia "kind of ground zero of that monoculture run amok [where the administration] allowed antisemitism to take to take over".
In a Democratic primary debate in May 2022, Fetterman said regarding abortion: "That is between a woman and her physician". To the question if any exceptions exist, he said: "It's certainly not between me or any politician. We settled this decades ago, and the fact that these states are trying to repeal it... we have to push back on that." Later that month, Fetterman reiterated his position opposing any legal restrictions on abortion, including in the third trimester.
Fetterman is in favor of abolishing capital punishment in Pennsylvania, stating that he "wholly support[s] Governor Tom Wolf's moratorium on the death penalty". He has called the death penalty "inhumane, antiquated, expensive, and [a] flawed system of punishment".
Fetterman supports the elimination of mandatory sentences of life in prison without the possibility of parole for second degree murder, in which someone commits a felony resulting in death, but is not directly responsible for the killing. He does not support eliminating life without parole as a sentence. His Senate race opponent, Mehmet Oz, claimed that Fetterman supports "eliminat[ing] life sentences for murderers", which PolitiFact and other fact-checking outlets called a distortion of Fetterman's position.
Fetterman has called for a balance between decarbonization efforts and creating fossil fuel industry jobs. He has a mixed record on fracking. He once called the practice "an environmental abomination." While running for lieutenant governor, Fetterman both supported establishing two new fracking wells and said he did not support fracking and never would. He later said that he supports permitting fracking but advocates stricter environmental regulations. In 2021, Fetterman said that he supports moving towards a "de facto moratorium [on fracking] because the transition is going to be toward green and renewable energy".
Social Network
Fetterman is active on social media platforms, including Twitter, where he engages with constituents and shares updates on his political work. His personal life and political activities are often covered by media outlets and discussed by the public.
While leading in many polls, Fetterman received few endorsements in the Democratic primary. State representative John I. Kane said that the lack of endorsements was characteristic of Fetterman's "lone wolf personality". Darisha Parker, a state representative from Philadelphia, argued that his lack of endorsements was because he had "never come and introduced himself to me or any of my colleagues... if a lieutenant governor doesn't take the time to get to talk to somebody like me, then why would we want to send somebody like him to D.C.?"
In September 2022, Oz called on Fetterman to debate him before early voting began in Pennsylvania on September 19. Fetterman agreed to debate Oz in "the middle to end of October" but did not commit to an exact date or to a debate in September. Oz and Toomey criticized Fetterman's approach to the debate. The Washington Post wrote that it "raised questions about whether [Fetterman], still recovering from a serious stroke, is fit to serve in the Senate". On September 15, Oz and Fetterman agreed to a single debate on October 25.
On April 17, 2023, Fetterman returned to the Senate to chair the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry subcommittee on food and nutrition, specialty crops, organics and research. The Washington Post said that Fetterman's "voice stumbled at times while reading from prepared notes" during the subcommittee hearing, but "he appeared in good spirits" and communicated a message about the importance of fighting hunger.
In March 2025, Fetterman asked Democrats to talk like "regular" people instead of ranting about "oligarchy", saying that many people do not understand what an "oligarch" is. He expressed concern about "unlimited money" in politics, saying it harms democracy and can be mitigated by reducing financial influence.
Fetterman supports ending the filibuster in the United States Senate. He has also said that Democrats need to be more ruthless, like Republicans, in order to pass legislative priorities. He was one of nine Senate Democrats to vote for cloture for a Republican-led stopgap funding bill to avoid a federal government shutdown in March 2025. Fetterman criticized his fellow Democrats and said it was "absolutely absurd" to pander to the left wing of the Democratic Party ("extreme Democrats") in the face of the ground reality of the Gaza war and Israel by shutting down the government rather than vote for the Republican funding bill.
During the Gaza war, Fetterman continued his steadfast support for Israel, placing blame for the conflict entirely on Hamas. He has notably broken from Democrats with his ardent support for Israel in the Gaza war. Commentators have said that his views on Israel have shifted to the right since the conflict's inception and become more in line with those of Republicans. When confronted by pro-Palestine protesters outside the U.S. Capitol, he waved an Israeli flag. In a separate incident, Fetterman told a pro-Palestine activist she should "be protesting Hamas" instead of Israel. He has blamed TikTok for creating "warped" perceptions of the conflict and widening divisions. When Biden threatened to withhold some arms supplies to Israel, Fetterman called the threat "deeply disappointing". In June 2024, Fetterman visited Israel and met with President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu said "Israel has had no better friend" than Fetterman. Fetterman has supported Netanyahu's position against any permanent ceasefire that allows Hamas to remain functional. On March 26, 2024, Fetterman and Representative Josh Gottheimer denounced the Biden administration for not voting against a U.N. Security Council resolution that "demands an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan respected by all parties leading to a permanent sustainable ceasefire, and also demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages". In opposing a ceasefire, Fetterman reportedly said "Let's get back to killing" and "Kill them all" in private conversations.
In January 2025, Fetterman said he was open to Trump's proposed United States acquisition of Greenland, and later joked he wanted to be appointed "Pope of Greenland". He said it was a "responsible conservation", including "buying it out" like the Louisiana Purchase.
In January 2025, Fetterman co-sponsored the Kids Off Social Media Act (KOSMA), which was introduced by Senator Brian Schatz, Chris Murphy, Ted Cruz, and Katie Britt. Senators Ted Budd, Peter Welch, John Curtis, Angus King, and Mark Warner also co-sponsored the Act, which would set a minimum age of 13 to use social media platforms and prevent social media companies from feeding "algorithmically targeted" content to users under 17.
Education
John Fetterman graduated from Albright College in Reading, Pennsylvania, and later earned a Master of Public Policy (MPP) from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.
The incident gained new attention during Fetterman's Senate bid, with critics alleging a racial element to the incident. Fetterman's campaign denied allegations of racism, claiming that Miyares was wearing a black sweatsuit and mask, so Fetterman could not have identified his race or gender. Fetterman also added that Miyares was running in the direction of a school and that he made the decision to approach him with the firearm due to the event's proximity in time to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
Politico reported that Fetterman struggled during the debate "to effectively communicate—missing words, pausing awkwardly and speaking haltingly", while The New York Times reported that "he was also fluent enough over the course of the hour to present his Democratic vision for a state that could determine control of the Senate". According to the Times, Fetterman was an uneven debater even before his stroke. Republicans seized on his appearances and behavior after the stroke to suggest that he was not fit for office; according to medical experts, speech impairment after a stroke does not indicate cognitive impairment. Senator Chris Coons said that the debate "was hard to watch" but that Pennsylvanians would still be attracted to Fetterman's candidacy because of his "record of what he's done in Braddock [and] as lieutenant governor".
Before running for the U.S. Senate, Fetterman was described as a social and fiscal progressive, including by himself. When running for Senate in 2022, Fetterman said he was not a progressive, "just a Democrat", saying that many parts of his platform that were once considered progressive are now mainstream beliefs of the party. In 2022, The New York Times characterized Fetterman as "left-leaning". Fordham University political science professor Christina Greer described Fetterman, alongside New York City Mayor Eric Adams, as "simultaneously progressive, moderate and conservative". After Fetterman rejected the progressive label again in 2023, NBC News called his ideology an "unorthodox brand of blue-collar liberalism, with a dash of outsider populism."
Fetterman has described himself as "pro-policing", including pro-community policing. He opposes defunding the police, calling the movement "absurd", but supports the Black Lives Matter movement. After Derek Chauvin, a police officer who murdered an unarmed black man, George Floyd, was convicted of second-degree murder, Fetterman tweeted his support for the verdict, stating that Chauvin was "clearly guilty".
