Senate Candidate John Fetterman's Stroke Leaves Him STRUGGLING To Speak Ahead Of Much-Hyped Debate With Rival Dr. Mehmet Oz

Pennsylvania Senate candidate John Fetterman struggled to speak and comprehend a reporter’s questions during a recent interview, RadarOnline.com has learned.

The concerning development comes roughly five months after the 53-year-old lieutenant governor-turned-Senate candidate suffered a stroke just days before winning his state’s Democratic primary in May.

Fetterman’s struggle to speak and comprehend questions also comes shortly before his crucial debate with his rival, Republican Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz. Fetterman’s troubles also come less than four weeks before the midterm elections on November 8.

According to NBC News’ Dasha Burns, who recently met Fetterman for a rare sit-down interview ahead of the election, the Democratic Senate candidate suffered from “lingering auditory processing issues” during their exchange.

“We had a monitor set up so that he could read my questions,” Burns explained to MSNBC’s Katy Tur on Tuesday afternoon, “because he still has lingering auditory processing issues as a result of the stroke, which means he has a hard time understanding what he’s hearing.”

“Now, once he reads the question, he’s able to understand,” Burns explained further. “You’ll hear he also has some problems, some challenges with speech.”

“And I’ll say…that just in some of the small talk prior to the interview, before the closed captioning was up and running, it did seem that he had a hard time understanding our conversation.”

As RadarOnline.com previously reported, Dr. Oz has used Fetterman’s stroke – and his ongoing recovery from the stroke – to question whether or not the lieutenant governor is capable of representing Pennsylvania in the Senate.

Dr. Oz has also criticized Fetterman for only appearing for one debate so far and for seemingly “hiding” from voters on the campaign trail as he continues to recover from his stroke.

Despite Dr. Oz’s attacks, Fetterman – who is still ahead in the polls by nearly 4 points – has assured his constituents his stroke and subsequent recovery is not “going to have an impact” on his political performance should he win the six-year Senate term.