Fetterman’s Own Communications Director Blasts His Views on Israel to Reporter

Senator John Fetterman’s (D-PA) communications director, Carrie Adams, dismissed his views on Israel and Gaza in an interview debrief as “a lot less nuanced” than hers and bluntly confessed to Free Press senior editor Peter Savodnik: “I don’t agree with him.”

The interaction, which took place as she signed off the call after with the journalist following a phone interview, is briefly noted in a profile of Fetterman and his stances on Israel published by the outlet on Monday.

Signing off the call, Adams expressed her disagreement.

“I don’t agree with him,” Adams reportedly said.

She elaborated: “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.”

This internal dissent comes as Fetterman finds himself increasingly isolated within his own party over the strength of his support for Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, particularly in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attack.

Fetterman has remained defiant, however, despite backlash from progressives and protests outside his home and his offices. The push back from inside the senator’s own team, however, caught Savodnik off guard.

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.”

In the interview with the Free Press, Fetterman downplayed his decision to skip this week’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago, insisting it was a personal choice unrelated to his opinions on Israel.

Still, the fact that even his own staff questions his stance suggests a deeper rift within the party, one that Fetterman may struggle to bridge as he navigates an increasingly polarized political landscape.

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