Pennsylvania Senate hopeful Lt. Gov. John Fetterman acknowledged the stroke he suffered in May has taken its toll, but stressed that he will be able to serve Pennsylvanians.
Despite lingering speech impediments that he has weathered, he said that his stroke and recovery “changes everything,” adding that he anticipates he will be “much better” by the time he takes would hypothetically take office.
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“I don’t think it’s going to have an impact,” Fetterman told NBC News in a rare interview. “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.”
Back in May, days before the Democratic primary, Fetterman was knocked out of commission by a stroke that he claims nearly killed him. He remained out of the public spotlight until August, when he returned to the campaign trail.
Since his return, Fetterman has often stuttered, slurred his words, and struggled to articulate himself during various public speeches, raising concerns about his health. Doctors implanted a pacemaking device into him, which has affected the way he communicates, per NBC News. In addition to trouble speaking, Fetterman has also had difficulty hearing.
“It gets much, much better where I take in a lot. But to be precise, I use captioning, so that’s really the … that’s the major challenge. And every now and then, I’ll miss a word. Every now and then. Or sometimes I’ll maybe mush two words together. But as long as I have captioning, I’m able to understand exactly what’s being asked,” he explained.
During the general election campaign, Fetterman’s allies have blasted allies of his Republican rival, Dr. Mehmet Oz, for politicizing the lieutenant governor’s health. But he has also endured criticism for not being transparent enough about the state of his health. He declined to share his medical records with NBC during the interview.
“When our doctor has already given a letter saying that I’m able to serve and to be running. And then, I think there’s — you can’t be any more transparent than standing up on a stage with 3,000 people and having a speech without a teleprompter and just being — and putting everything and yourself out there like that. I think that’s as transparent, as everyone in Pennsylvania can see,” Fetterman said.
The lieutenant governor entered the general election with a commanding lead over Oz, who had been battered by fierce Republican infighting and apprehension. His campaign pummeled Oz, caricaturing him as a rich, out-of-touch carpetbagger in a scathing social media campaign.
Over recent weeks, however, Fetterman’s edge began to wilt away, though he has a 3.7 percentage point edge over Oz in the latest RealClearPolitics polling aggregate. Cook Political Report recently shifted the race to a toss-up. Oz has hammered Fetterman on a range of issues and accused him of being soft on crime.
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After being slammed by Oz for weeks, Fetterman agreed to one debate on Oct. 25. “Well, yeah, of course I’m going to show up on the 25th,” Fetterman said.
Fetterman’s interview will air on NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. EDT.
