Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman will likely be hospitalized for “a few weeks” after checking himself into Walter Reed Medical Center for clinical depression Wednesday, according to a top aide in his office.
Fetterman’s office said in a previous statement that while the Pennsylvania elected official had dealt with depression “off and on” for years, his latest setback was more severe and surprised everyone.
Well, everyone who wasn’t paying attention, I suppose.
Fetterman’s latest stint in the hospital marks the second time he’s been admitted to a medical facility since being inaugurated in January.On February 9, about a month after first taking office, Fetterman was hospitalized for lightheadedness during a Senate Democrat retreat.
Fetterman, who previously served as Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor before coming to Washington, spent the better part of his senatorial campaign slurring his way through interviews and stumbling incoherently over debate questions, raising concerns over his ability to represent his state on Capitol Hill after a stroke in the spring of 2022 left him perpetually confused and unintelligible.
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But while his campaign staff at the time insisted - with the generous help of the media - that Fetterman’s cognition was intact, shortly after his inauguration to office in January, the senator’s office began playing defense over his apparent inability to understand reporters’ questions on the Hill, with the New York Times reporting the stroke damage to Fetterman’s auditory processing meant he hears words in a jumble much like the garbled mumbling of Charlie Brown’s teacher on Peanuts. Staffers told reporters that shouting questions at the senator – as journalists have always done on the Hill – wouldn’t work with Fetterman, and that they should be prepared with written questions in advance. A closed captioning monitor has been set up for Fetterman at his desk on the Senate floor, and another on the center dais. And congressional aides in Fetterman's office have admitted to not knowing whether the senator simply couldn't hear them at times, or if he's frozen by "crippling" depression and social anxiety.
But remember - don’t question whether Fetterman can do the job, or whether it’s good for his physical and mental health to even try. Just shut up and applaud the struggling stroke victim as he kills himself trying to perform basic everyday tasks, you ableist bigot.