Don Lemon presses Fetterman to have his doctors answer media questions before the election and gets a nonresponse



CNN anchor Don Lemon pressured John Fetterman on whether he would permit his doctors to answer questions from the media before the election, but he offered a nonresponse to the press.

Lemon had the Democratic candidate for one of two of Pennsylvania's U.S. Senate seats on his show Monday and asked him a difficult question about his health. Fetterman suffered a stroke but insists that he is healthy enough to campaign despite often mixing up words and misunderstanding questions put to him.

"Listen, we've heard a little from your doctor, but we haven't heard a lot. You're asking voters to trust you on your word that your health is good without the full story, so in the interest of full transparency for the voters, do you think it would help if you let your doctors brief the press before election night?" Lemon asked.

"I think we've been pretty transparent, you know, we've had our doctors just be very clear that they're here, that we're able to and fit to serve," Fetterman responded.

"And from my point, uh, you know, we've been also been very transparent in terms of showing up at a debate, and very transparent about, you know, having events in front of thousands and thousands of Pennsylvanians for months, and I was again, it was no secret that I was gonna miss some words, I was gonna mush some words together," he continued.

"And as we've been very clear in the debate and during this interview I've been using captioning, it's all true," he added. "I believe we've been very transparent to give all the voters to make it their choice."

Questions around Fetterman's health gained traction when Fetterman and Republican candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz debated on a public forum, and the Democratic candidate struggled to answer some questions competently. In one embarrassing moment, he was asked to square contradictory statements about fracking, and he simply repeated that he supported the practice.

The Pennsylvania election will help determine whether Democrats maintain their tenuous hold on the U.S. Senate or whether Republicans will take control.

Here's the Lemon interview with Fetterman:

\u201cDon Lemon: "In the interest of full transparency for the voters, do you think it would help if you let your doctors brief the press before election night?"\n@JohnFetterman: "I think we've been pretty transparent." https://t.co/ZjbajpBvfE\u201d
— The Hill (@The Hill) 1667349960

MSNBC viewers furiously insult Andrea Mitchell for pointing out Fetterman's horrible debate: 'She needs to STFU'



Viewers of progressive cable news network MSNBC lashed out furiously at longtime anchor Andrea Mitchell after she recognized that a Democratic Pennsylvania Senate candidate performed badly at a debate.

Mitchell addressed the contentious debate between Republican candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz and John Fetterman for one of Pennsylvania's U.S. Senate seats on Tuesday.

Fetterman had many embarrassing moments at the debate, owing to his continuing recovery from a stroke, but many Democrats were incensed that Mitchell would even address the issue. Some even defended Fetterman by mocking 75-year-old Mitchell for stumbling over her words at times.

"Andrea Mitchell has an agenda. She degraded John Fetterman when talking about last nights debate. All about his stroke. What’s her excuse? She can’t find words when trying to form a sentence," read one popular tweet.

"Andrea Mitchell should be the last person beating the dead horse about Fetterman’s speech problems. She can barely complete a sentence without pauses. I recognize as I age that can be a problem but I don’t keep calling out someone for it. She needs to stop," read another tweet.

"It’s rich that Andrea Mitchell is talking about John Fetterman stroke and his disability. When Andrea Mitchell can’t string a sentence together and she didn’t have a stroke !" said another angry critic.

"Andrea Mitchell and Joe Scarborough fumblef***ing through their shows while disparaging Fetterman's 'performance' in a debate while RECOVERING FROM A STROKE, is galling. He will improve. What are your excuses, Joe? Andrea? Neither of you successfully complete sentences daily," responded another commenter.

"I find it rich Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC, who can hardly put together sentences herself, criticizing Fetterman for having a hard time last night," read another reply.

"John Fetterman spoke much better during his debate than Andrea Mitchell does on a daily basis so she needs to STFU," read a popular response.

At least one commenter compared her comments about Fetterman to the Nazis in Germany seeking to exterminate the disabled. Others, like the co-hosts of "The View," were angry at Oz for attacking Fetterman's health at the debate because he is a medical doctor.

Here's more about Fetterman's debate performance:

Fetterman MELTS DOWN When Asked To Release Medical Recordswww.youtube.com

Associated Press gets torched online for pouncing on NBC News in order to protect Democrat PA candidate John Fetterman



The Associated Press was criticized by many on the right after it collected complaints against NBC News in order to protect Democratic Pennsylvania Senate candidate John Fetterman.

NBC News correspondent Dasha Burns commented that Fetterman appeared to have trouble answering questions during an interview about his campaign. The 52-year-old candidate suffered a stroke earlier this year but maintains that he is healthy enough to continue running for the federal seat.

Burns was immediately criticized for reporting that Fetterman had trouble understanding questions and needed closed captioning in order to help him answer the questions completely.

The Associated Press collected the criticism against Burns despite her report noting that Fetterman's cognitive abilities didn't seem to be impaired, but that his hearing ability had been.

“Our reporting did not and should not comment on fitness for office,” tweeted New York magazine reporter, Rebecca Traister. “This is for voters to decide. What we push for as reporters is transparency. It’s our job.”

The article from the Associated Press drew criticism online from many who saw it is protecting the Democrat candidate from reasonable suspicion.

"When is the last time the @AP did press criticism as a news* story?" asked John McCormack of National Review.

"NBC accidentally did journalism, so here comes AP to clean things up for Democrats," replied Mark Hemingway.

"This is a rare moment where leftists are pouncing... but they're the media pouncing in defense of their candidate," read another tweet.

"The report and subsequent narrative were a controlled burn, intended to prevent further spread (reporting) of Fetterman’s condition and fitness to serve," tweeted Jorge Bonilla of NewsBusters.

"When did the Associated Press start doing the thing where you write up people's tweets criticizing something?" asked journalist Zaid Jilani.

"Amazing," responded Charles C.W. Cooke of National Review.

Fetterman is running against Republican candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz. While Fetterman had a large lead over Oz earlier in the campaign, recent polling has their pivotal race tightening up significantly. The result of the election will help determine which party has control of the U.S. Senate after the midterm elections.

Here's part of the controversial interview:

John Fetterman Answers Health Questions Ahead Of PA Election Daywww.youtube.com

Watch: John Fetterman reads reporter's questions off a computer to understand them, insists his stroke won't have 'impact' if elected to Senate



Pennsylvania lieutenant governor and Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman's health was the focus of a conversation he had with NBC News on Tuesday, during which he struggled to speak and understand the questions he was asked.

With Election Day just over three weeks away, Fetterman insisted that a near-fatal stroke he suffered in May wouldn't affect his ability to serve in the United States Senate should he defeat Republican Mehmet Oz.

“I don’t think it’s going to have an impact,” he told NBC News' Dasha Burns in his first in-person sit-down interview since the stroke. The Fetterman campaign required NBC to provide closed-captioning technology so that the lieutenant governor could read the questions as they were asked in order to understand and respond.

“I sometimes will hear things in a way that’s not perfectly clear. So I use captioning so I’m able to see what you’re saying on the captioning,” Fetterman explained.

NBC News noted that he occasionally stuttered and had trouble finding words during the interview. At one point he couldn't articulate the word "empathetic" and instead said something that sounded like "emphetic." But he denied that this was a difficulty.

\u201cJohn Fetterman struggles to say \u201cempathetic"\u201d
— RNC Research (@RNC Research) 1665518916

"It was just about having to be thinking more, uh, sl, uh — slower — to just understand and that sometimes that’s kind of the processing that happens,” Fetterman said.

Fetterman suffered a stroke in May caused by a blood clot from his heart formed by atrial fibrillation. Doctors surgically implanted a pacemaking device with a defibrillator to monitor and regulate his heartbeat. At the time, Fetterman said doctors insisted there was "no cognitive damage," but in subsequent campaign appearances he's made several verbal slips that Republicans have called attention to while raising questions about his ability to serve.

\u201cHow can @JohnFetterman expect Pennsylvanians to send him to the Senate if he\u2019s not being honest about his health?\n \nWatch the NRSC\u2019s latest video:\u201d
— Senate Republicans (@Senate Republicans) 1662990538

Fetterman admitted to NBC News that his recovery "changes everything."

“But it gets much, much better where I take in a lot. But to be precise, I use captioning, so that’s really the maijing — that’s the major challenge. And every now and then I’ll miss a word. Every now and then. Or sometimes I’ll maybe mush two words together. But as long as I have captioning, I’m able to understand exactly what’s being asked,” he said.

Pennsylvania's battleground Senate race could determine which party will control the Senate next year, with Democrats currently holding a 50-50 majority and Vice President Kamala Harris breaking tie votes. Both parties have poured millions of dollars into the contest

Republican candidate Dr. Oz has sought to make Fetterman's health a major issue in the race. Oz has consistently trailed Fetterman in polls, but he has cut what was a double-digit lead for Fetterman in some surveys after the Senate primary in May to just a 3.7-point average differential by the end of September. He has attacked Fetterman for refusing to share his medical records with reporters and for only agreeing to one debate.

Burns pressed Fetterman on his refusal to disclose his medical records.

"If my doctor teams already said I'm fine, I'm not really sure that's much more beyond transparent," he replied, but Burns pointed out that the Fetterman campaign hasn't provided any of his doctors for interviews with the press.

\u201cNBC: "Why not be transparent and [release medical records]?"\n\nFetterman: "If my doctor teams already said I'm fine, I'm not really sure that's much more beyond transparent."\n\nNBC: "We're taking your word for what your doctors are telling you. We haven't heard from them in months"\u201d
— Greg Price (@Greg Price) 1665587190

"Well, I mean, if they believed that I was ready to do that, and I've been able to successfully do that kind of campaigning, I think that demonstrates what they said and their opinions were pretty accurate," Fetterman said. He insisted that he's been transparent by presenting himself on the campaign trail, where voters can see him and decide for themselves whether he is fit to serve.

Watch:

John Fetterman Discusses Health, Campaign In First Sit-Down Interview Since Stroke youtu.be