Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

AZLD4Candidate

(6,975 posts)
Fri May 15, 2026, 11:25 AM Friday

John Fetterman - maybe there may be something more to it coming from an American with a green card holding spouse

Last edited Fri May 15, 2026, 12:33 PM - Edit history (1)

Dickhead's administration is targeting "illegal immigrants." Now he is escalating it to green card holders and naturalized citizens., according to an article from today's New York Times.

My wife holds a green card holder. She has done literally nothing, not in her home country of China and not here. I refuse to let her get a driver's license because, for all I know, a speeding ticket (or even a parking ticket) might get her in the crosshairs of these ICE goons. If she wants to go out, either my parents or I am with her at all times except when she needs to use the bathroom. I don't even let her shop in stores alone as she is constantly within eye shot.

Giselle Fetterman is a naturalized citizen. I know this sounds like a conspiracy theory, but Dickhead does run the White House like he is a mafia don, but could John Fetterman have been threatened by someone in the White House similar to a protection racket: "That's a nice wife you have. It would be a shame if something happened to her? And if you tell anyone about this communication, you'll live to regret it."

I know it sounds out there, but I wouldn't put it past them to do that in a subtle, or non-subtle, way. When I was deciding to run for AZ State House, after they rejected my wife's green card application a third time, I suspended my campaign and decided my wife was more important and family always comes first.

Could Sen. Fetterman's recent actions be because someone in Congress, or the administration, threatened his family for him to buck the Democratic Party and has threatened him into silence or else?

I know people scream "his stroke," but my mother's had two strokes and while it takes a while to get over post-stroke syndrome, maybe there is more to it than medical decline. Just saying. Feel free to disagree, but as the spouse of a green card holder, I am absolutely terrified now.

50 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
John Fetterman - maybe there may be something more to it coming from an American with a green card holding spouse (Original Post) AZLD4Candidate Friday OP
If so, Fetterman caving in... lame54 Friday #1
I think Mr.Bee Friday #38
Sorry to hear what you and your wife are going through. travelingthrulife Friday #2
Investigated to verify they followed the "rules" (laws), yes. Justice matters. Friday #30
Wow. Your wife's life leftstreet Friday #3
My wife is also afraid of cars. She has a learner's permit and couldn't drive the care 20 feet the first AZLD4Candidate Friday #16
Fetterman's wife came as an undocumented immigrant. GoCubsGo Friday #4
This message was self-deleted by its author debm55 Friday #5
Seriously? PatSeg Friday #8
This message was self-deleted by its author debm55 Friday #13
See post 24, he never fired at the jogger, that is a false claim. Celerity Friday #25
No, it's not true. Fetterman never fired shots at anyone. Wiz Imp Friday #26
This message was self-deleted by its author debm55 Friday #36
Also he isn't fondly thought of in Braddock even livetohike Friday #12
Before what happened? There is no evidence of him firing a gun any anyone Jose Garcia Friday #33
He chased a black jogger. livetohike Friday #42
You claimed that he "wasn't thought of fondly" in Braddock prior to this incident Jose Garcia Friday #45
He never fired the gun, that's a false claim, and it happened in January 2013, well before he first ran for US Senate Celerity Friday #24
That not true. Please delete your post and dispose of your phone/tablet/computer Jose Garcia Friday #32
No doubt he's been threatened, it's what they do to get their way. They are thugs of the highest order Blues Heron Friday #6
Maybe he's just a fucking jagoff. LuvLoogie Friday #7
That is a distinct possibility PatSeg Friday #9
It wouldn't surprise me LeftInTX Friday #10
Post removed Post removed Friday #11
I'm sorry my fear of losing her to ICE makes you feel superior. AZLD4Candidate Friday #15
As of May 2026, Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) maintains a voting record that aligns with the Democratic party approximat Fullduplexxx Friday #14
"...as the spouse of a green card holder, I am absolutely terrified now." OldBaldy1701E Friday #17
He's a senator with media access dflprincess Friday #18
Again, my OP stated if he was threatened, I'm sure those that did anticipated that and doubled down AZLD4Candidate Friday #19
He's the token democrat who's allowed to talk to Fox. Initech Friday #49
"greed card" Tben Friday #20
Typo. That "give us $5M and you'll get the green "gold" card is. AZLD4Candidate Friday #21
Just want to point out that the possibility of Giselle being threatened niyad Friday #22
I'm just posing a theory considering my situation with my wife. AZLD4Candidate Friday #23
I understand Sailingdiver Friday #27
We won't cross into Canada to Niagara Falls. We are apprehensive of us going back to visit her family AZLD4Candidate Friday #29
Ugh, that would explain a LOT. ShazzieB Friday #43
I wouldn't discount it. That said, Fetterman is lost to us. Joinfortmill Friday #28
I think you may well have pinpointed a very plausible reason for Fetterman's baffling votes in the last couple of years. Texin Friday #31
From the beginning, I've believed Fetterman's wife was threatened with deportation dlk Friday #34
The barrel has no bottom. AZLD4Candidate Friday #39
Indeed dlk Friday #46
Doesn't sound out there to me Figarosmom Friday #35
Well, the one thing that makes this theory questionable are peggysue2 Friday #37
Two things can be true at the same time dlk Friday #47
He's not the same MissKat Friday #40
If this were true swong19104 Friday #41
FWIW, a clairvoyant speaking about political things talked about this maybe over fierywoman Friday #44
A repeating pattern Cirsium Friday #48
That's What I Thought Initially Deep State Witch Friday #50

travelingthrulife

(5,604 posts)
2. Sorry to hear what you and your wife are going through.
Fri May 15, 2026, 11:31 AM
Friday

If he is going after naturalized citizens, then both Melania and Musk need to be targeted.

Justice matters.

(10,091 posts)
30. Investigated to verify they followed the "rules" (laws), yes.
Fri May 15, 2026, 01:13 PM
Friday

"Targeted" no. But the "we're looking forward, not backward" wrongful excuse will probably be back, or never?

leftstreet

(41,266 posts)
3. Wow. Your wife's life
Fri May 15, 2026, 11:41 AM
Friday

Wow. I feel really bad for her.

Giselle Fetterman has no fear of having a driver's license, or going anywhere unaccompanied. There's no comparison here

AZLD4Candidate

(6,975 posts)
16. My wife is also afraid of cars. She has a learner's permit and couldn't drive the care 20 feet the first
Fri May 15, 2026, 12:22 PM
Friday

then froze and has refused to try again.

When Trump is no longer president and this ICE shit ends, I will feel more comfortable with her driving alone if she overcomes her phobia.

GoCubsGo

(35,007 posts)
4. Fetterman's wife came as an undocumented immigrant.
Fri May 15, 2026, 11:50 AM
Friday

She told her story on a podcast while her husband was running for the Senate. I think it may have been Al Franken's podcast. She and her brother were brought here by their mother from Brazil, and I guess one could say she's one of the "Dreamers." I can't remember all of the details, but she's just the sort that Trump would love to deport. I have no doubt that this is what he's using to threaten her husband into submission.

Response to AZLD4Candidate (Original post)

Response to PatSeg (Reply #8)

Response to Wiz Imp (Reply #26)

livetohike

(24,433 posts)
12. Also he isn't fondly thought of in Braddock even
Fri May 15, 2026, 12:15 PM
Friday

before that happened. I belong to a Braddock Facebook group. People are very disappointed in him.

Jose Garcia

(3,553 posts)
45. You claimed that he "wasn't thought of fondly" in Braddock prior to this incident
Fri May 15, 2026, 02:36 PM
Friday

That was in December 2013. Yet he was reelected with over 83% of the just the previous month:

https://www.alleghenycounty.us/files/assets/county/v/1/government/elections/documents/elections-archive/2013-general-summary.pdf

Seems like Braddock voters thought pretty fondly of him then.

Celerity

(54,912 posts)
24. He never fired the gun, that's a false claim, and it happened in January 2013, well before he first ran for US Senate
Fri May 15, 2026, 12:40 PM
Friday

in 2016 (he finished 3rd in the Democratic primary). Also, the jogger was not a youth, he was 28yo in January 2013, 36yo when the article below was written in 2021, and is likely 41yo now.

Man John Fetterman confronted with a shotgun says that should not stymie his Senate bid

https://archive.ph/dd339

CHRIS BRENNAN
Philadelphia Inquirer / / STAFF WRITER


A man confronted in 2013 by a shotgun-wielding John Fetterman — then mayor of Braddock, now lieutenant governor and running for the U.S. Senate — claims Mr. Fetterman has "lied about everything" that happened that day. But Christopher Miyares, writing from a state prison in Somerset County, also told The Inquirer that incident should not stop Mr. Fetterman from becoming a senator. "Even with everything I said, it is inhumane to believe one mistake should define a man's life," Miyares wrote in one of two letters sent to The Inquirer. "I hope he gets to be a Senator." (That last line was underlined three times.)

The shotgun incident long has been discussed in political circles as Mr. Fetterman's career soared. But it has drawn new attention amid the racial reckoning stoked after the police killing of George Floyd and as Mr. Fetterman, a favorite of progressives, emerged as the early Democratic front-runner in a race next year that could determine control of the Senate.
Mr. Fetterman and Miyares tell very different versions about that January day from eight years back. Mr. Fetterman's story: He heard gunfire near his home in Braddock and saw a man wearing a mask running away, so he called 911, chased him down in his truck, and approached him with a shotgun in hand. Mr. Fetterman, who is white, has repeatedly denied knowing Miyares was Black or pointing the shotgun at him.

Miyares lived in Braddock at the time and said he liked Mr. Fetterman, but disputed his account. "He lied about everything," Miyares wrote. He has previously said he was jogging in the neighborhood when he heard fireworks, just before Mr. Fetterman confronted him. "He knew my race. The gun was aimed at my chest while he loaded five red shells into the tube of the 12-gauge TAC shotgun," Miyares wrote. "Once he finished, he aimed it at my face out of the Ford F-150 Truck." But in a second letter to The Inquirer, postmarked on the same day last month, Miyares said Mr. Fetterman could face a political backlash now if the Senate candidate revised his account. "Telling the truth on an incident 10 years ago could cause him more harm than good," Miyares wrote. "Mr. Fetterman and his family have done far more good than that one bad act or action and, as such, should not be defined by it." He signed that letter: "Gooo Fetterman."

The accounts of both men match a description in a 2013 incident report filed by Braddock police, who said Miyares was unarmed. The officer who responded to the 911 call said two people in the area stopped him to say "they heard several shots" before he got to Mr. Fetterman and Miyares. The officer wrote that Miyares, 36, was wearing "running clothing" and headphones and was "very cooperative, but was upset that Fetterman pulled a shotgun on him." Miyares' letters were in response to a letter from The Inquirer, seeking his version of the incident. He is serving an 18- to 36-month sentence after being convicted in 2019 of kidnapping, terroristic threats, unlawful restraint, and other crimes against a woman who hired him for a ride to work. Miyares contended in his letter that he is "in prison for a crime I didn't commit."

snip

Blues Heron

(9,038 posts)
6. No doubt he's been threatened, it's what they do to get their way. They are thugs of the highest order
Fri May 15, 2026, 12:02 PM
Friday

Response to AZLD4Candidate (Original post)

AZLD4Candidate

(6,975 posts)
15. I'm sorry my fear of losing her to ICE makes you feel superior.
Fri May 15, 2026, 12:20 PM
Friday

I already had that happen once during COVID-restrictions in China. I refuse to let it happen again.

Call my fear and nervousness over-protective, but do not imply anything else, especially when you do not know the dynamics of my marriage.

How fucking dare you!

Fullduplexxx

(8,633 posts)
14. As of May 2026, Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) maintains a voting record that aligns with the Democratic party approximat
Fri May 15, 2026, 12:17 PM
Friday

As of May 2026, Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) maintains a voting record that aligns with the Democratic party approximately 91% to 93% of the time. Despite this high level of party consistency, he has faced significant criticism from his base for high-profile breaks on specific issues.

While Fetterman frequently defends his record by stating he votes "90%-plus Democrat," he has notably split with his party on several key matters:


dflprincess

(29,417 posts)
18. He's a senator with media access
Fri May 15, 2026, 12:27 PM
Friday

Last edited Fri May 15, 2026, 01:26 PM - Edit history (1)

If his wife was threatened he should have gone public with it.

AZLD4Candidate

(6,975 posts)
19. Again, my OP stated if he was threatened, I'm sure those that did anticipated that and doubled down
Fri May 15, 2026, 12:31 PM
Friday

Again, not defending Fetterman's actions, as he lost me when he voted against the War Powers Clause of the US Constitution, but considering the antipathy of now green card holders and naturalized citizens, I wouldn't discount my theory.

Initech

(109,280 posts)
49. He's the token democrat who's allowed to talk to Fox.
Fri May 15, 2026, 04:02 PM
Friday

No democrat should be talking to Fox.

niyad

(134,058 posts)
22. Just want to point out that the possibility of Giselle being threatened
Fri May 15, 2026, 12:33 PM
Friday

has been discussed here a number of times. If that is indeed the case, perhaps a little sunlight is in order.

Sailingdiver

(373 posts)
27. I understand
Fri May 15, 2026, 12:50 PM
Friday

My wife is a naturalized citizen. Her daughter received her derivative citizen ship via her mom. But, we haven't received her daughters official citizenship certificate so we are nervous as hell. We won't fly anywhere and I worry every day those pricks will pull some bullshit at her elementary school.

I hate what this administration has turned our country into and those who voted for this.

AZLD4Candidate

(6,975 posts)
29. We won't cross into Canada to Niagara Falls. We are apprehensive of us going back to visit her family
Fri May 15, 2026, 01:01 PM
Friday

in China on fears they won't let her back in.

You understand my fears and my over-protective nature now.

We're both in the same position; your daughter, my wife.

Immigrant is a statement just like Jew was in Nazi Germany. They are all bad, except the ones I know.

TBH, I'm sure he threatened Melania with deportation if she leaves him or makes a scene in public. No, I don't care what happens to the Slovenian strumpet at all but threats are his sociopathic MO, especially when you have the apparatus to do so.

ShazzieB

(22,888 posts)
43. Ugh, that would explain a LOT.
Fri May 15, 2026, 02:21 PM
Friday
TBH, I'm sure he threatened Melania with deportation if she leaves him or makes a scene in public. No, I don't care what happens to the Slovenian strumpet at all but threats are his sociopathic MO, especially when you have the apparatus to do so.


I'll bet you're right about this. It would be perfectly in character for him, and it would explain SO many things, including why she stays married to a man she obviously loaths. He's probably threatened to deport her and her parents (Melania's mother is deceased now, but her 82 year old father is still alive and living in the US), while making sure Barron stays here, even as he tries to revoke the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship for others. NONE of that would surprise me.There is no more effective way to control someone than to threaten the well-being those they care about. Threatening to forcibly separate a mother from her child would be unspeakably cruel (and whatever anyone may say about her, I'm convinced that she is genuinely devoted to her son), but Trump would be just the guy to do something like that.

I am deeply sorry to hear about what you're going through right now, and I don't think you're one bit overly protective. We all know what ICE is capable of doing. I hope you and your wife both stay safe until this nightmare is over.

Texin

(2,869 posts)
31. I think you may well have pinpointed a very plausible reason for Fetterman's baffling votes in the last couple of years.
Fri May 15, 2026, 01:21 PM
Friday

dlk

(13,345 posts)
34. From the beginning, I've believed Fetterman's wife was threatened with deportation
Fri May 15, 2026, 01:38 PM
Friday

Republicans take cheating to new lows every day.

Figarosmom

(13,443 posts)
35. Doesn't sound out there to me
Fri May 15, 2026, 01:40 PM
Friday

I've been saying this since Fetterman had been summoned to Mar a lago .

peggysue2

(12,606 posts)
37. Well, the one thing that makes this theory questionable are
Fri May 15, 2026, 01:40 PM
Friday

The reported complaints from Fetterman's own staff, many of whom had been with the man for years. They spoke about the man's lack of interest in the Senate, not doing the work, not showing up for votes, musing about a run for the Oval Office. These were people who had worked with Fetterman, elbow-to-elbow, for a number of years.

A number of them (again reportedly) resigned their positions.

Are Trump and his minions capable of personal threats? Without a doubt.

Could Giselle Fetterman be vulnerable in the present political climate? Possibly, although I think she has some protection by her public persona and the fact she's actually married to a US Senator.

I'm more inclined to believe Fetterman's brain was scrambled after his stroke (which may have been far worse than disclosed), that the following depression made him vulnerable and receptive to Trump and the GOP's disingenuous wooing.

The whole thing is sad. Fetterman had a great opportunity to make a difference. Instead, he's become a public scold demeaning fellow Democrats who worked their butts off to get him into office.

As for you and your wife? I'm so sorry about what's happening--the fear and anxiety engendered by these cruel and extreme nativist attitudes and roundups and the raw racism fueling all of it. Hopefully, November will be a turning point when the brakes are applied and those responsible are held accountable.

Stay safe and hold on.

MissKat

(242 posts)
40. He's not the same
Fri May 15, 2026, 01:59 PM
Friday

whoever this is that now calls himself John Fetterman-- he is not the man I voted for. He is not the man I heard who touched my heart. I told people, "This man could be president."
Then the stroke. Than the depression.

Then the trip to Mara Lago.

And then goodbye to the old John F.

The man we see now is very pleased with himself. He preens. He loves going on Fox.

No. He is not under threat.

I can't wait to vote for Conor Lamb.

swong19104

(662 posts)
41. If this were true
Fri May 15, 2026, 02:13 PM
Friday

Fetterman should just resign. He’s a member of the Democratic Party. Talk with party heads and strategize a plan to move forward.

And, moving forward all candidates must be thoroughly vetted to determine whether they have potential leverage points against them. While almost every one of us have weaknesses where leverage can be applied, knowing beforehand can help buttress against exploitation by operatives for the evil side.

Cirsium

(4,115 posts)
48. A repeating pattern
Fri May 15, 2026, 03:45 PM
Friday

1. Politician (Graham, Rubio, Vance, Fetterman, et al) is extremely outspoken against and highly critical of Trump

2. Politician meets privately with Trump at Mar-a-Lago

3. Politician changes their positions 180 degrees and becomes strong defender of Trump

Nothing to see here folks. Don't start with the conspiracy theories.

Deep State Witch

(12,756 posts)
50. That's What I Thought Initially
Fri May 15, 2026, 04:07 PM
Friday

I thought that Dump threatened to deport his wife if he didn't bend the knee. However, I think that he saw the other Dem Senator, Bob Casey, lose to a MAGAT who didn't even live in PA and put two and two together. Plus, I think he got Manchin syndrome.

Kick in to the DU tip jar?

This week we're running a special pop-up mini fund drive. From Monday through Friday we're going ad-free for all registered members, and we're asking you to kick in to the DU tip jar to support the site and keep us financially healthy.

As a bonus, making a contribution will allow you to leave kudos for another DU member, and at the end of the week we'll recognize the DUers who you think make this community great.

Tell me more...

Latest Discussions»General Discussion»John Fetterman - maybe th...