Gisele Fetterman, the wife of Senator-elect John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, is speaking out about the right-wing attacks she’s endured after her husband won in the midterms earlier this month in an interview with The New Republic.
Plenty of right-wing commentators criticised Ms Fetterman when she posted a picture of herself with her husband in front of his new office on Capitol Hill. Ms Fetterman responded by saying the American right hates women, particularly strong women.
“The fact that a spouse of a senator-elect has been attacked nonstop for the past 24 hours and everyone’s okay with it and everyone thinks it’s normal … it’s not normal,” she said in the interview published on Monday. “Since entering the Capitol for training, my inbox has been completely filled with threats and horrible things. And that’s because I’ve been a non-stop loop on Fox News.”
Mr Fetterman won his Senate race earlier this month when he defeated TV doctor Mehmet Oz in one of the most-watched Senate races in the country. But Mr Fetterman suffered a stroke shortly before the primary in May, which meant that Ms Fetterman served as his most visible surrogate on the campaign trail.
Despite this, Ms Fetterman denied allegations she sought a political career for herself.
“Never,” she told TNR. “It’s not for me. It’s a very cruel world, and I am not cruel. I don’t ever wanna become cruel. I’m sensitive. I want people to like me. It hurts me when people are mean.”
In addition, she told the publication that she did not see a role for herself in her husband’s Senate office.
“I want to work closely with the spouses and get to know them, but I’m going to be in Pittsburgh. John will be in D.C. My work and my kids and my life is in Pittsburgh,” she said.
