John Fetterman said that the ‘vicious’ 2022 campaign against Dr. Mehmet Oz was to blame for his worsening mental health. He also said that he is still fit to serve even though he has been in the hospital for depression and is still getting better.
In an interview with KDKA-TV on Tuesday, the Pennsylvania senator said that he feels “fantastic,” even though questions about his health keep coming up.
Fetterman was chosen soon after he had a stroke in 2021. He said that the stroke did not affect his ability to be a senator, but it did make it harder for him to understand what people were saying. During an interview, he said that he had to use tools that transcribed speech in real time to make sure he got all the questions.
Just one month after he was sworn in as president, Fetterman went to Walter Reed Medical Center on his own to get help for sadness.
After his first week back in Washington, D.C., Fetterman said, “I really feel great.” “Many people have asked me, “Hey, how are you doing? How is your sadness? Again, it’s in remission, and I’m so happy to feel so good.’
Critics have been very harsh on Fetterman, saying that it was clear after his stroke that he was not healthy enough to serve in the Senate. After Fetterman went to the hospital, these claims became even stronger.
Republicans in Pennsylvania say he hasn’t done his job as a senator and should step down or be replaced.
The Democrat lawmaker says that attacks on him during his campaign for the Senate in 2022 made him sick and put him in the hospital.
Fetterman said that he started feeling depressed after the violence of the campaign. Some people think it was one of the meanest election efforts ever.
OpenSecrets says that $84 million was spent on attack ads against Fetterman during his race against the Republican Dr. Oz, who was backed by former President Donald Trump.
Fetterman said that even though he was treated for depression, he is still able to do his job in Congress while he is getting better.
Fetterman told KDKA-TV, “Hell, yes, and that’s why I’m doing it.” “The way Pennsylvanians work is to take it day by day and work hard,” he said. “That’s what I’ve been doing here.”
After a winning campaign for the Senate last year and being sworn in as a senator in January, Fetterman went to the military hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, just one month after becoming a senator to get help for severe depression.
He got out of Walter Reed at the end of March, and when Congress came back from a two-week break in April, he went back to work at the Capitol.