I understand perfectly why the people of Pennsylvania rejected Republican Senate candidate Mehmet Oz. It didn’t help that he was from New Jersey and didn’t know much about his adopted state. It also didn’t help that there was very little pushback from Oz and his campaign on his puppy-killing (done at a time it was acceptable) for research or his lack of knowledge about groceries.
But Oz at least would have been able to answer simple questions from the media. The fact that Fetterman couldn’t and the local and national media tried to make his obvious and painful disability an asset was one of the most blatant acts of political prestidigitation in recent political history.
Perhaps Fetterman will slip quietly into obscurity while his wife runs his office — answering mail, giving interviews, yelling at the staff. But Fetterman won’t be doing any of that because his cognitive abilities have been severely impacted by his stroke.
Here’s one of Fetterman’s press aides trying to explain away his obvious incapacity for office:
Two things we need to get out of the way:
1) John Fetterman has a suit and will wear it to the Capitol.
2) He is still recovering from a stroke and has lingering auditory processing challenges. The way Hill reporters are used to yelling questions at Senators will not work here. https://t.co/0UCe47d9QC
— Rebecca Katz (@RebeccaKKatz) November 15, 2022
It’s not that he has “auditory processing problems.” It’s that he “can’t understand what people are saying to him,” as Jim Treacher sardonically points out.
A reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle tried to be very, very helpful.
Would it be helpful to have qs written down and allow him to read? Or is he not going to take hallway qs while he recovers?
— Shira Stein (@shiramstein) November 15, 2022
Sure it would be helpful. It would also be helpful to have his wife or his aides translate whatever he says. And while they’re at it, why not just craft the answers themselves?
Some Fetterman defenders compared his disability with that of Senator Tammy Duckworth who was wounded in battle and gets around in a wheelchair.
My colleauges in the Capitol press corps must be just as cognizant of this when we ask Fetterman questions in the halls, just as we are to Tammy Duckworth in her wheelchair. That doesn't mean we don't have to ask tough questions. Rather, doing so will allow us to get answers https://t.co/y1dDbxPFum
— Eric Michael Garcia (@EricMGarcia) November 15, 2022
Um…yeah. So the inability to speak is the same as the inability to walk? It’s a certain mindset that equates all “disabilities” and lumps them into one, giant category of “physically challenged persons.”
I'm not interested in asking Fetterman softballs. Far from it. I care about holding him accountable. The only way we can do this is if we can accommodate him. We must remember we are coworkers with members
— Eric Michael Garcia (@EricMGarcia) November 15, 2022
Ask the Senator if he really, really deep down sees a press flunkie like Garcia as a “coworker?”
For our VIPs: Would You Want John Fetterman Driving Your Kid’s School Bus?
Fetterman’s stroke was far more serious than his campaign let on at the time. And there are still questions of just how much better he is going to get.
More from Treacher:
If he wanted to recover, why did he run for the Senate? He’s all finished recovering. He’s not going to get any better. This is what he is now. He won’t talk to you because he can’t talk to you. He doesn’t understand what you’re saying, and even if he could, he wouldn’t be able to form a sentence in reply.
Yell at me all you want, but that’s what’s happening. I didn’t push him into this. I didn’t exploit a literally brain-damaged man in a quest for power. In other words, I’m not Gisele Fetterman.
There’s a good chance that there will be additional improvement, but it should be obvious to anyone who isn’t a Democratic partisan that Fetterman will be impaired for the rest of his life. The problem is that Pennsylvanians will have to wait six years to replace him.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member