Pennsylvania U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman (D) raised eyebrows Friday evening with a nonsensical answer that he gave during a cable news interview.
The segment comes after Fetterman suffered a stroke several months ago from which he has not fully recovered, and has thus faced lingering doubts on the campaign trail about whether he is fit to serve in the U.S. Senate.
“First, I just wanted to check in and see how you’re feeling and how you’re doing,” leftist MSNBC host Chris Hayes said.
“I’m doing fan-, I’m doing fantastic,” Fetterman claimed. “And, and, uh, it’s not about kicking balls in the authority or anything.”
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
The Washington Post Editorial Board slammed John Fetterman (D) in an op-ed published in mid-September, saying that his hesitancy to debate his Republican opponent, Dr. Mehmet Oz, was unacceptable and that he needs to release his medical records following his stroke.
Fetterman claimed in an interview in early September that he would debate “sometime in the middle to end of October,” which was weeks after voters can start casting mail-in ballots, and he refused to give any specific details other than he would potentially debate one time.
“Since returning to the campaign trail, Mr. Fetterman has been halting in his performances,” the Editorial Board wrote. “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 op-ed continued. “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 Editorial Board said that Fetterman pointing to a 4-month-old doctor’s note was “not good enough” and that he “should release his medical records for independent review.”
