John Fetterman: Phony Blue-Collar Populist

News stories just out reveal that John Fetterman grew up in a cushy environment and was supported for many years by mommy, daddy and his sister while posing as a blue collar tough guy. Following are excerpts from a story in the Philadelphia Inquirer:

In his ads, and much of the public imagination, John Fetterman is a tattooed everyman from a rugged steel city outside Pittsburgh.

The phrase “blue collar tough guy” flashes across one of his TV ads as a grim-faced Fetterman poses before billowing smokestacks. “He’s looked different and been different his entire life,” a narrator says. . . .

Public records show — and Fetterman has openly acknowledged — that for a long stretch lasting well into his 40s, his main source of income came from his parents, who gave him and his family $54,000 in 2015 alone. That was part of the financial support his parents regularly providedwhen Fetterman’sonly paying work was $150 a month as mayor of Braddock, a job he held from his mid-30s until he turned 49. He lived in an industrial-style loft he purchased from his sister for $1 after she paid $70,000 for it six years earlier. . . .

Fetterman, 52, grew up, in his own words, in a “cushy” environment in York County. His upbringing helped him get an MBA from the University of Connecticut and a master’s degree from Harvard without taking on student debt. .

His family helped him stay afloat after 2006, shortly after he became mayor, a job with few formal responsibilities and a salary of $1,800 a year. He held the position from 2006 to early 2019.

The only publicly disclosed aid, reported as part of Fetterman’s first Senate run, showed four $13,500 gifts: Each parent gave that amount to Fetterman and his wife, Gisele. The support was just below the $14,000 threshold for taxable gifts at the time.