Public figures are openly discussing how Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., faces permanent mental challenges, a month after he was sworn in and a Democratic Senate majority secured.
Fetterman suffered a stroke in May 2022 just ahead of the Pennsylvania Democratic primary. The severity of his condition was only revealed the following month but he continued to run for Senate while his campaign insisted he would be fit for office. His health problems became a source of public concern when he turned in a troubling debate performance against Dr. Mehmet Oz despite the assistance of closed captioning.
Since defeating Oz, it appears many of Americans’ worst suspicions about his health have been confirmed. Fetterman, who has been hospitalized since Wednesday, has also struggled for weeks to adjust to his role as senator, to the point he still needs technological aid to help him communicate with colleagues and his own staff.
On Friday, the New York Times released an article, titled “Fetterman, Recovering After Stroke, Labors to Adjust to Life in the Senate,” detailing his struggles with quotes from senators and staff, with the admission that the campaign set back his stroke recovery.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) in the old senate chamber for the Ceremonial Swearing on January 03, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
“But his adjustment to serving in the Senate has been made vastly more difficult by the strains of his recovery, which left him with a physical impairment and serious mental health challenges that have rendered the transition extraordinarily challenging — even with the accommodations that have been made to help him adapt,” according to The Times.
“He has had to come to terms with the fact that he may have set himself back permanently by not taking the recommended amount of rest during the campaign,” the article said. “And he continues to push himself in ways that people close to him worry are detrimental.”
In light of this news, many commentators across Twitter condemned media outlets for obfuscating Fetterman’s health problems in order to ensure he won the election in 2022.
Media personality Steve Krakauer tweeted, “NYT is ready to tell the truth about John Fetterman – who remains in the hospital for a 3rd day – now that the truth doesn’t matter.” He then quoted from the article: “a physical impairment and serious mental health challenges that have rendered the transition extraordinarily challenging.”
Independent journalist Glenn Greenwald slammed many media outlets for having hidden or minimized Fetterman’s health concerns while he was running for office.
“Today’s NYT article on Fetterman makes clear his incapacities and health challenges are far graver than were known,” he wrote. “Nothing but the best of wishes to Fetterman and his recovery, but it’s urgent to recall how aggressively and deliberately the media lied about this to elect him.”
He singled out tech journalist Kara Swisher, suggesting she cynically defended Fetterman’s issues as a political ploy.
“Right before the election, an NBC reporter, @DashaBurns, did her most basic job by honestly reporting Fetterman seemed incapable of speaking and understanding her,” Greenwald tweeted, “She was mauled by liars like @karaswisher who, eager to elect Dems, attacked the reporter.”
Greenwald suggested this was part of a much larger phenomenon in American politics.
“This is why I genuinely regard [Podcaster] Sam Harris’ admission as one of the most important statements in years,” he wrote. “When he said anything and everything is justified to help Dems win – lying, censorship, disinformation – he was conveying what most in media and left-liberal politics believe.”
Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman speaks to supporters during an election night party at StageAE on November 9, 2022 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)
SENATE GETS DIGITAL UPDATE TO ASSIST JOHN FETTERMAN AS HE RECOVERS FROM STROKE
X Strategies LLC senior digital strategist Greg Price tweeted, “The Democrat Party literally gave John Fetterman permanent brain damage just to have a vote in the senate to kill unborn babies.”
Fox New senior political analyst Brit Hume tweeted that this information from the New York Times is hardly a surprise to many.
“Some of us warned during his campaign that his stroke had left him unable to perform daily duties of a U.S. Senator,” he wrote. “Now the New York Times reports that, his current hospitalization aside, he still isn’t.”
Defense of Freedom spokeswoman Angela Morabito tweeted an excerpt of the article and wrote, “What they’re doing to John Fetterman is abuse, plain and simple.”
The Spectator contributing editor Stephen L. Miller said, “According to an outraged 19th News reporter, NY Times stealth edited out the term ‘special needs’ regarding the fact John Fetterman required special captioning monitors placed throughout the Senate building.”
He copied and pasted an image of a tweet from Sara Luterman after she had condemned The Times for using the phrase “special needs” because Fetterman’s “needs are not ‘special.” She wrote, “Update: ‘Special needs’ has been removed. Thank you for making the correction, @nytimes. I’m still kind of shocked it made it through in the first place.”
He added in a following tweet that such a term isn’t out of place, “Kind of think installing caption monitors on the floor of the Senate for one Senator to be able to understand spoken language and debate is a pretty special need.”
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) walks through the Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol prior to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address at a joint meeting of Congress in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol on February 07, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
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Pluribus editor Jeryl Bier said the incident casts doubt on whether much of the media would report honestly on President Joe Biden’s health.
“If Pres. Biden actually does have health issues, what about the way John Fetterman’s health was reported before the election would give the public any confidence we’d learn anything about it? Or would we just be told later how the White House ‘adapted’?” he asked.
