Claim:
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., died shortly after falling down on Nov. 13, 2025.
Rating:
A rumor that circulated on social media in November 2025 claimed U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., died shortly after sustaining a fall on Nov. 13.
In short, while a Fetterman spokesperson truly confirmed in a post (archived) on the senator’s official X account that he fell during a Nov. 13 walk and was hospitalized, the claim he died soon after originated (archived) from (archived) X user @jnyboy’s account, which previously posted similar death hoaxes about the Pennsylvania senator in (archived) 2023 (archived) and 2024 (archived).
Snopes contacted by email Cabelle St. John, Fetterman’s chief of staff, to ask about the rumor, as well as X user @jnyboy via a private message on X to inquire if the account possibly considers the content parody or satire (“anarcho-funposter” appears in the bio), and will update this article if we receive further information.Â
Fetterman’s fall
In the statement shared on Fetterman’s official X account on Nov. 13, an unnamed spokesperson for the senator said he suffered a fall near his home in Braddock during an early morning walk, and was subsequently hospitalized.
The statement continued, “Upon evaluation, it was established he had a ventricular fibrillation flare-up that led to Senator Fetterman feeling light-headed, falling to the ground and hitting his face with minor injuries.”
According to the spokesperson, Fetterman, 56, is “doing well” and remained in the hospital “so doctors can fine-tune his medication regimen.”
The post also featured a joke, reading, “Senator Fetterman had this to say: ‘If you thought my face looked bad before, wait until you see it now!'”
The American Heart Association considers ventricular fibrillation as “the most serious abnormal heart rhythm,” and that it’s “extremely dangerous and can lead to sudden cardiac death.”
The Associated Press reported that in 2022 Fetterman disclosed his diagnosis of cardiomyopathy and another type of abnormal heartbeat, atrial fibrillation, after he suffered a stroke on the campaign trail.
Where the rumor started on social media
On Nov. 13, X user @jnyboy posted (archived) twice (archived) about Fetterman allegedly dying after sustaining his fall. One of the posts showed an illustration of Fetterman with the words, “John Karl Fetterman 1969-2025.”
(@jnyboy/X)
The account also posted (archived) a fake Snopes article screenshot about this matter.
For further reading, we previously investigated the same rumor, including about the @jnyboy user, in 2023.
