NBC News agreed to allow the use of a computer monitor for Pennsylvania Senate hopeful Lt. Gov. John Fetterman to read the questions he was asked because of difficulties with his health.
Fetterman spoke with correspondent Dasha Burns in what was billed as the Democrat’s first TV interview since he had a stroke in May. In a preview of their interview on Tuesday, Burns said the interview was “very different” than when they last spoke before his stroke several months ago. A clip from that exchange shows Fetterman reading the transcription of the reporter’s questions on an Apple computer at his home, and there is a chyron informing viewers that the interview was performed using closed captioning.
“He is still suffering from auditory processing issues, which means he has a hard time understanding what he’s hearing, so NBC News agreed to closed captioning during this interview,” Burns told anchor Katy Tur on MSNBC.
FETTERMAN TO RALLY IN KEY ‘PURPLE’ PENNSYLVANIA COUNTY FOR FIRST TIME
“You’ll see in the clip that I’m about to play, he has a screen in front of him that is transcribing my questions as I ask them,” Burns added. “He’s reading those questions. Once he can read, he can fully understand what I’m asking, and he’s also still suffering from some of those speech challenges. He’s doing speech therapy every day. His campaign says he’s recovering, and I’ll tell you, we’ve been to several rallies since the stroke, and it does seem that he is improving every day.”
Burns also reported that her team pressed for medical records from Fetterman and an interview with his medical team “because right now, we’re really taking the campaign’s word for his recovery,” but neither request has been fulfilled.
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During the interview, Fetterman said that his stroke and recovery “changes everything” but insisted that he anticipates he will be “much better” by the time he takes office, if he wins. “I don’t think it’s going to have an impact,” Fetterman said. “I feel like I’m gonna get better and better — every day. And by January, I’m going [to] be, you know, much better. And Dr. Oz is still going to be a fraud.”
Fetterman has agreed to one debate on Oct. 25 against his Republican rival, Dr. Mehmet Oz, which is just a couple of weeks before the election. Oz, who is endorsed by former President Donald Trump, has gone on the offensive on the health issue, releasing his medical records and declaring that “voters should have full transparency when it comes to the health status of candidates running for office.”
Part of Fetterman’s interview aired on NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. EDT.
