For months last year, John Fetterman (D-Pa.) who had a stroke in May, insisted that he was healthy and capable of performing the duties of a U.S. senator. Despite his apparent cognitive impairment and lingering questions about his health, he managed to bank enough votes in early voting to overcome a dramatic shift in the polls in Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz’s favor in the final weeks and get elected to the U.S. Senate.
And he went 35 days before having to be hospitalized after feeling lightheaded during a Senate Democratic retreat. On Wednesday, Fetterman’s communications director revealed that he’d been taken to George Washington University Hospital, where he would remain overnight for observation. According to the statement, “initial tests did not show evidence of a new stroke, but doctors are running more tests.”
Fetterman may not have had another stroke, but the incident certainly raises red flags that Fetterman, his campaign, and his doctor were not honest when they said he was physically and mentally healthy enough to serve as U.S. senator. Fetterman was absent from the campaign trail for months and then sparsely seen.
His occasional campaign appearances may have shown that his recovery had progressed a lot since his stroke but also that he still had a long road ahead. These concerns were amplified by the fact that he simply refused to release his health records to give the voters of Pennsylvania the assurance that he was, indeed, able to serve in the U.S. Senate. His speech problems were attributed to “auditory processing” issues, but even though accommodations were made for him during his one and only debate with Dr. Oz, his debate performance was so awful that Oz suddenly took the lead in various polls.
When asked about why he wouldn’t release his medical records during that debate, Fetterman insisted that he was being adequately transparent by providing a note from his doctor. “Now, again, my doctor [unintelligble] believes that I’m fit to be serving and that’s what I believe is where I’m standing,” Fetterman claimed.
Far from it. The doctor, whose judgment Fetterman wanted us to trust, is a big-time Democrat donor who donated thousands of dollars to Democrats over the years and even to Fetterman’s campaign before he became his doctor.
Related: Santos Kerfuffle Proves Republicans Hate Liars More Than Democrats Do
In light of Fetterman’s medical incident this week, it’s hard not to wonder what Fetterman, his campaign, and his doctor were hiding. Just how healthy (or unhealthy) is he? These are important questions, especially in light of the controversy surrounding Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) whose resumé embellishments were exposed after being elected to Congress and have prompted bipartisan calls for his resignation.
No one is defending Santos, but why aren’t we hearing widespread criticism of Fetterman for not being completely transparent or honest about his health? Isn’t that worse? If Fetterman deliberately hid the extent of his cognitive impairment and lied about it — which it certainly looks like that’s what happened — how is that not worse than what Santos did? His lies weren’t exposed until after the election. Fetterman covered up the truth about his health and, in the face of repeated questions, claimed he was fit to serve, and then barely lasted a month before requiring hospitalization.
Where’s the outrage from Democrats?