Pennsylvania’s Democratic candidate for Senate, John Fetterman, suffered a stroke last May and has since struggled with his public speaking abilities, which were questionable to begin with.
On October 15, Fetterman gave a speech that was incoherent, but apparently, the bar is pretty low for lawmakers in today’s society (listen to any of Joe Biden‘s speeches).
FETTERMAN: “Send me to Washington, D.C. to take on—to make sure I push back against work to work.”
*literally one person cheers* pic.twitter.com/PX6AKh7cnE
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 15, 2022
It was also revealed that, for an interview with NBC News on October 12, Fetterman required a closed captioning aid to allow him to understand what was being said. After an NBC reporter revealed that Fetterman was acting “very different” after his stroke, and explained that he “has lingering auditory processing issues.”
After the reporter publicized these remaining disabilities from the stroke, Fetterman’s wife, Gisele, berated the reporter for doing their job, and insisted they should face “consequences.”
"It makes you wonder why Fetterman's campaign, why Fetterman's wife are so worried about what that interview showed," says Axios' @JoshKraushaar pic.twitter.com/ab05HiTtLK
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 14, 2022
Despite these red flags related to Fetterman’s health, a medical professional, who also ‘happens’ to be a donor to Fetterman’s campaign, released a statement saying that Fetterman has “significantly improved” after his stroke, and “can work full duty in public office.”
The letter said, “Overall, Lt. Governor Fetterman is well and shows strong commitment to maintaining good fitness and health practices. He has no work restrictions and can work full duty in public office.”
Fetterman’s campaign proudly released this letter, written by donor Dr. Clifford Chen. However, the accuracy of this letter is suspect given that Chen has donated $1,330 to Fetterman’s campaign, $500 of which was donated before he became Fetterman’s doctor.
Fetterman’s campaign spokesman Joe Calvello commented on the doubts surrounding Dr. Chen’s letter, saying, “This isn’t about politics. It’s an independent, detailed medical report written by John’s primary care doctor based on his latest office visit from last week.”
