SPEAKING OUT

Giselle Fetterman Opens Up on Relentless Abuse: I’ve Been Called a ‘Mail-Order Bride’

“As soon as John’s political profile began to grow, I started receiving hate mail—ten times more than John ever got himself,” she wrote in an op-ed Thursday.

“As soon as John’s political profile began to grow, I started receiving hate mail—ten times more than John ever got himself,” Gisele Fetterman, wife to Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), wrote in a Thursday op-ed for Elle. Fetterman described the “vicious attacks” she experienced after her husband announced he was seeking treatment for clinical depression: “I’ve been called a ‘mail-order bride,’ and some have even asked John: ‘Where did you buy her?’” Sen. Fetterman sought treatment in mid-February, and plans to return to the Capitol around April 17. “They promoted conspiracy theories claiming I was an ambitious, power hungry wife, secretly plotting to fill his Senate seat,” Fetterman wrote. Her piece ended with a call for hope in the face of vitriolic attacks like the ones she said her family have suffered: “We can’t out-hate a force set on denying our essential humanity...What we can do is continue to live with love every day.”