Senator John Fetterman's Health Concerns Continue After Opening Committee Hearing Statement: 'He Is Not Okay'
April 20 2023, Published 1:39 p.m. ET
Democratic Senator John Fetterman came under fire after his first opening committee hearing statement created resurfaced concerns regarding his health, RadarOnline.com has learned.
The incident took place on Wednesday as Fetterman led his first Senate hearing since joining the Senate in January.
Fetterman’s first opening statement also came nearly one year after he suffered a stroke and just days after he was released from the hospital following a five-week stay for depression.
But the 53-year-old Democratic senator, who beat GOP candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz in the midterm election this past November, created concerns regarding his health after he appeared to struggle while reading his two-minute-long opening remarks on Wednesday.
While Fetterman successfully worked through his opening remarks, footage of his opening speech showed that he struggled not to stammer and stumble as he addressed his fellow members of the Senate Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on Food and Nutrition, Specialty Crops, Organics, and Research.
“All of this is so fundamental that he didn’t need a script,” tweeted 2024 congressional candidate Jerrod Sessler after the committee’s hearing on Wednesday. “What happens when he gets through the [easy] part? Is there any substance or ability to even articulate improvements in food stability for Americans and financial stability for America’s farmers?”
“Fetterman is not okay,” wrote former Donald Trump attorney Jenna Ellis.
“It’s clear why Fetterman was admitted to Walter Reed,” added former Trump White House aide Sebastian Gorka. “This is him ‘recovered.'”
Meanwhile, Republican Senator Rand Paul came to Fetterman’s defense on Wednesday and told critics of the freshman lawmaker to “lay off” Fetterman’s health.
“I say: Lay off Fetterman’s health and talk about policy,” Senator Paul tweeted. “There’s lots of material that doesn’t attack someone’s misfortune.”
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Joe Cavello, Fetterman’s spokesperson, acknowledged that the freshman senator continues to suffer from “auditory processing issues” resulting from his stroke in May 2022 – but Cavello also slammed Fetterman’s critics for “getting their jollies” from the senator’s health problems.
“Republicans already tried emptying the arsenal attacking John’s health and Pennsylvanians had his back in a big way,” Calvello told Fox News. “As a senator, John is fighting for forgotten communities and all of the people of Pennsylvania, regardless of their social media habits.”
