Pennsylvania U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman (D) sparked quite a bit of concern this past Friday night due to an odd almost nonsensical answer he issued as part of an interview broadcasted via cable news.
This recent interview segment took place in the wake of Fetterman suffering from a stroke a few months ago from which he has still not entirely recovered, and has been dealing with lingering doubts on the campaign trail concerning whether or not he is entirely fit to hold a position in the U.S. Senate.
“First, I just wanted to check in and see how you’re feeling and how you’re doing,” expressed Chris Hayes, a leftist MSNBC host.
“I’m doing fan-, I’m doing fantastic,” explained Fetterman. “And, and, uh, it’s not about kicking balls in the authority or anything.”
WATCH:
MSNBC host: “I just wanted to check in and see how you’re doing.”
John Fetterman: “It’s not about kicking balls in the authority or anything.”
Like what on earth is that response??? pic.twitter.com/txba7lCJM4
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) October 1, 2022
John Fetterman found himself the target of the Washington Post Editorial Board via an op-ed put out back in September, stating that his hesitancy to debate his Republican opponent, Dr. Mehmet Oz, was entirely unacceptable and that he needs to make public his medical records in the wake of his stroke.
Fetterman made the claim via an interview back in September that he would debate “sometime in the middle to end of October,” which at that point was multiple weeks after voters can begin sending their mail-in ballots, and he stated that he would not give any specific details other than he would possibly take part in a single debate.
“Since returning to the campaign trail, Mr. Fetterman has been halting in his performances,” expressed the Editorial Board. “He stammers, appears confused and keeps his remarks short. He’s held no news conferences. Mr. Fetterman acknowledges his difficulties with auditory processing, which make it hard for him to respond quickly to what he’s hearing. He receives speech therapy — and we wish him a speedy, full recovery — but the lingering, unanswered questions about his health, underscored by his hesitation to debate, are unsettling.”
“The Fetterman campaign squandered credibility by concealing from the public for two days after his stroke that he had been hospitalized,” they expressed in the op-ed. “It waited weeks longer to reveal a more complete picture of his medical history, including that he had been diagnosed in 2017 with cardiomyopathy. Mr. Fetterman had a pacemaker with a defibrillator implanted after the stroke. The campaign’s response to questions about Mr. Fetterman’s health is to point to a doctor’s note, released more than 14 weeks ago, which said ‘he should be able to campaign and serve in the U.S. Senate without a problem’ if he takes his medications and exercises.”
The Board declared that Fetterman trying to use a 4-moth-old doctor’s note was “not good enough” and that he “should release his medical records for independent review.”