NEW YORK, NY – U.S. Senator-elect John Fetterman (D-PA) has been named by the New York Times as one of its 93 “most stylish” people of 2022, drawing criticism and mockery from numerous individuals on social media for their selection of the politician, known for regularly wearing unusually casual fashion staples such as hoodies, shorts and sneakers, even during official events and appearances. 

“Love them or hate them, all have at least one thing in common. At some point over the past 12 months, they made us talk: about how we dress, how we live and how we choose to express ourselves. We welcome dissent. But we are, without a doubt, correct,” the Times said. 

Fetterman defeated Republican Party nominee Mehmet Oz in the 2022 Pennsylvania U.S. Senate election in November with 51 percent of the vote, and is scheduled to take office on January 3, 2023. A progressive, Fetterman – who is the outgoing Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor – advocates healthcare as a right, criminal justice reform, abolishing capital punishment, raising the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour, and legalizing cannabis. 

On May 13, 2022, Fetterman suffered a stroke and was hospitalized; he would later recover, although some observers noted a residual speech impairment that drove concerns of potential cognitive impairment. 

In choosing Fetterman for their “most stylish” list, the New York Times includes him with such fashion icons as the late Queen Elizabeth, Rihana, Ben Affleck, Timothée Chalamet, Lil Nas X and Martha Stewart, a move that commentators on social media and the political world were quick to criticize. 

Republican political consultant, author, strategist, and self-proclaimed “dirty trickster” Roger Stone – well-known for his expensive and lavish taste in fashion – not only slammed Fetterman’s inclusion in the “most stylish” list but the New York Times itself as well, a media outlet that he has been highly critical of in the past. 

“The New York Times has gone too far. Never mind their now totally debunked three-year insistence that Donald Trump’s campaign for President colluded with Russian intelligence. Never mind their insistence that the information on Hunter Biden’s laptop was ‘Russian Disinformation.’ Never mind their insistence that the COVID-19 vaccination was both safe and effective…now they are saying that Senator-elect John Fetterman is one of the 91 ‘Most Stylish People in America,’” Stone said in a statement. 

Journalist Ian Miles Cheong described Fetterman’s fashion sense by evoking the COVID-19 pandemic phenomenon of perpetually dressing in cozy sleep clothing such as sweatsuits and pajamas while in quarantine. 

“2022 is the year of the Goblin Mode. Dress up like a slob and make the NYT’s list of most stylish people,” Cheong quipped on Twitter. 

“What is ⁦@nytimes smoking?” Washington D.C. political consultant, Nachama Soloveichik tweeted.