Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) is facing bipartisan calls to fire his communications director for distancing herself from her boss’s positions on Israel to a journalist. 

Carrie Adams, who serves as Fetterman’s communications director, spoke by phone with The Free Press’ Peter Savodnik after his interview with the Pennsylvania senator for a story on his break with the progressive wing of his party and his decision to not attend this week’s Democratic National Convention. Adams told Savodnik during the call that she differed with Fetterman on the issue of Israel, and criticized his position as lacking nuance. 

“I don’t agree with him,” Adams told Savodnik of Fetterman’s stance on Israel and Gaza, according to the article. 

“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,” she continued. 

The article did not state if Adams went off the record before making the comments, which would have made them unreportable. Adams did not respond to JI’s request for comment on her candid remarks.

Still, the comments have stunned political onlookers as an unusual example of a senior communications professional criticizing their boss without trying to leave that office, and news of her comments have prompted operatives on both sides of the aisle to call for her firing.

“I would fire her on the spot. Having been in a Hill press shop, it is absolutely flabbergasting to think that a Hill press secretary would call a reporter, on or off the record, it doesn’t matter, and distance themselves from their boss and their boss’s policy position. That is unheard of,” Jon Reinish, a Democratic strategist with Mercury Public Affairs, told Jewish Insider.

Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY), who has been one of the most vocal supporters of Israel among Hill Democrats, tweeted that, “If I had a staffer who publicly challenged my position on an issue like Israel, that staffer would be fired in a heartbeat. In every Congressional office, there is only one name on the door — only one principal voted into office by the people.”

“I’m on three different text chains on this of ex-House and ex-Senate party committee colleagues, some are Republicans, a couple are Democrats, and everyone has their mind blown by this,” said Doug Heye, a Republican strategist who served as communications director for the Republican National Committee and former House Speaker Eric Cantor (R-VA).

“I’ve not seen one person, other than people on Twitter who are very clearly committed to Palestine, that have expressed anything but utter shock that a staffer would ever do that to their boss, especially a comms staffer,” he continued. 

Steve Schale, a veteran Democratic operative who served as Florida state director on former President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign, shared Heye’s outrage. While Schale said he empathized with the idea of Adams making a mistake, he took issue with her presenting herself as holding a “more nuanced” position than her boss. 

“I don’t know Carrie Adams and I couldn’t pick her out from a lineup, and I’ll acknowledge everybody, every one of us who is a flack has made mistakes,” Schale told JI. “But until the clerk or the Senate president starts asking, ‘Has every communications director voted?’ You don’t really have a public opinion. This is a cool job. It’s part of the deal with having one of those jobs where you have incredible proximity to power, a chance to influence and have a role behind the scenes. You’re on the team.”

Schale said what “really frustrates me as a Democrat, I think there is this perception which is based in some reality, that there’s a wing of our party which kind of feels like they know better than a lot of people, that they’re more thoughtful or more nuanced. Whether or not you read every edition of Foreign Affairs and have a thoughtful opinion on something doesn’t really matter to an average voter if they don’t agree with you. If she wants to have a conversation with somebody about the Israel-Palestine conflict, she’s not going to convince them by saying her opinions are more nuanced than theirs.”

“I just think in general within the party, that’s a vibe that exists, not just on this issue, but on a lot of issues,” he added. 

Erin Perrine, who ran the press shop for former President Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ 2024 presidential bid, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that, “When a staffer publicly criticizes their own boss, it’s a big deal. But when the person whose job it is to speak for the boss, defend their decisions, and manage the press does it? That’s an unparalleled level of hubris.”

Symone Sanders-Townsend, the former communications director for Vice President Kamala Harris, concurred, writing on the platform that, “Fetterman’s communications director should be unemployed after this because wtf?”

“Not saying I disagree with her viewpoint. Rather…Since when does the comms director call up reporters to say “I disagree” with the principal? Especially on the record?? That is not the job,” she added. 

Adams, 37, has been Fetterman’s communications director since April. She took over for Joe Calvello, after Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson created the position of chief strategy officer for Calvello so he could join the mayor’s team. 

Calvello is an alumni of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) 2020 presidential campaign. He also served as communications director for Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s 2018 campaign. Ellison, Sanders and Johnson have all been deeply critical of Israel’s war in Gaza, labeling it a genocide. 

Calvello and Fetterman’s relationship soured as the Pennsylvania senator shed his progressive affiliations and embraced centrist policies on border security and Israel. He stopped being seen around the Capitol in early 2024, after the Senate returned from the holiday recess, and officially announced his departure for Chicago in March. 

Since Oct. 7, Fetterman has seen a number of staffers publicly disavow him (or quietly leave to work for lawmakers who criticize Israel) over his support for the Jewish state. A group of his former campaign staffers launched “Fetterman Alumni for Peace” to call on him to shift course on supporting Israel less than three weeks after the Hamas attack, something he ignored. 

Adams, who has a background working for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) before pivoting to Meta, was supposed to mark a shift from Calvello’s tenure. The most progressive name on her CV is Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), the progressive anti-war lawmaker whom she served as communications director for from 2013-2014, though she followed that job up with roles under establishment Democrats. Her fiance is also Jewish. 

She traveled to Israel with Fetterman earlier this summer, where he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (as many in his party were vowing to boycott his July speech before joint session of Congress) and told JI that progressives who didn’t support Israel should face a “reckoning” at the ballot box.

“Would she have done this to Nancy Pelosi? Would she have done this to Chuck Schumer?” Reinish asked. “In what world is this OK? It shows she has a middling level of respect for her own boss.”