John Fetterman Requires Special Device to Hear During NBC Interview

John Fetterman’s health following his stroke has became a focal point of his U.S. Senate campaign.

Fetterman is running for Senate against Republican candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz.

Fetterman said that despite the stroke, he will remain in the Senate race.

Fetterman’s Senate campaign said his stroke recovery will determine the conditions under which he would agree to a debate against Republican opponent Dr. Mehmet Oz.

“Fetterman’s campaign maintains that he is in good health and has no problems engaging in one-on-one conversations but that a ‘chaotic auditory environment’ may pose a problem,” the Washington Examiner previously reported.

This posed a critical question for Fetterman.

If he’s not medically fit to handle a ‘chaotic auditory environment’ for a debate, what makes him medically fit to govern?

How can Pennsylvania voters trust that Fetterman can handle the duties of being an elected representative if he can’t even step on the debate stage?

“We are working to figure out what a fair debate would look like with the lingering impacts of the auditory processing in mind,” Fetterman campaign strategist Rebecca Katz told the Washington Post.

“To be absolutely clear, the occasional issues he is having with auditory processing have no bearing on his ability to do the job as senator. John is healthy and fully capable of showing up and doing the work.”

Fetterman eventually agreed to one debate with Oz, but under certain conditions.

The debate is scheduled for October 25th.

The 60-minute debate will take place in Harrisburg well after early voting starts.

Fetterman has also requested certain conditions.

Fetterman’s campaign asked for “live, real-time closed captioning that will appear on monitors visible to the candidates and throughout the duration of the debate.”

We already accommodated the closed captioning request for John. That’s going to slow everything down. I don’t see why this is an unreasonable request, so voters can hear us debate rather than waiting for people to type closed captions. https://t.co/V5P1aq2Lbk

— Dr. Mehmet Oz (@DrOz) September 14, 2022

Now, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette even called out Fetterman for not releasing his medical records and putting the issue to rest before the election.

“Of all the issues defining the U.S. Senate race between Republican Mehmet Oz and Democrat John Fetterman, Mr. Fetterman’s health should rank close to last. Even so, it has loomed large in an increasingly tight contest for a potentially pivotal U.S. Senate seat. Mr. Fetterman can diminish the influence of this distracting side-issue by releasing his medical records now and allowing reporters to question his physician,” the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Editorial Board wrote.

After an interview with NBC, things look worse for John Fetterman.

Fetterman required a special monitor to conduct the interview due to hearing issues.

“We had a monitor set up so that he could read my questions because he still has lingering auditory processing issues,” the NBC reporter said.

Fetterman “has a hard time understanding what he’s hearing…he still has some problems, some challenges with speech…he had a hard time understanding our conversations.”

WATCH:

MSNBC: John Fetterman "has a hard time understanding what he's hearing…he still has some problems, some challenges with speech…he had a hard time understanding our conversations." pic.twitter.com/EYLNVxb0Cy

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) October 11, 2022

The reporter pressed Fetterman on why he hasn’t released his updated medical records.

NBC: "We've asked for your medical records… you've declined. Why?"

Fetterman: "Our doctor has already given a record saying I'm ready to serve."

NBC: "That letter was six months ago. Don't voters deserve to know your status now?"

Fetterman: I do speeches and give interviews pic.twitter.com/5yDNvaeYdN

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) October 11, 2022

Watch the full interview below: