Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman’s wife, Gisele Fetterman, would “love” there to be an apology from NBC News to the disabled community for the treatment of her husband’s health surrounding a recent interview with the Democratic Senate candidate.
Fetterman voiced outrage at the network after reporter Dasha Burns noted that her 53-year-old husband struggled with small talk and required closed captioning to assist in his interview last week, comments that set off a firestorm of backlash.
JOHN FETTERMAN’S WIFE DEMANDS ‘CONSEQUENCES’ AGAINST JOURNALIST WHO INTERVIEWED HER HUSBAND
“I would love to see an apology towards the disability community from her and from her network for the damage they have caused,” she told the Independent.
Reports that John Fetterman needed closed captioning assistance to understand Burns’s questions fueled criticism and concerns about his health. He suffered a stroke in May shortly before clinching the Democratic nod for the Senate, and though his doctor said in early June the candidate is fit to serve in the Senate, John Fetterman has since had lingering speech auditory and comprehension impediments, and the election is just weeks away.
“During some of those conversations before the closed captioning was rolling, it wasn’t clear he could understand what we were saying,” Burns explained while promoting the rare interview last week.
Facing accusations of ableism, she defended her reporting, insisting she pushed for transparency and was not commenting on the candidate’s fitness for office. During the interview, John Fetterman explained that he had trouble processing auditory remarks but was able to comprehend conversations through transcriptions.
Fetterman was among those to accuse Burns of being “ableist” and demanded consequences for her comments on her husband’s ability to field small talk.
“We have received so many messages from folks who said, ‘This is exactly why I’m afraid to seek accommodations. This is exactly why I’m afraid to pursue a different position because of exactly what your husband has gone through,’” she added to the Independent. “So I think he’s shown what he’s experienced, but a lot of people saw themselves in him.”
She married John Fetterman in 2008 and has served as the second lady of Pennsylvania since her husband’s ascension to the lieutenant governor’s office in 2019.
NBC stood by Burns’s reporting last week.
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John Fetterman is locked in a heated primary against Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz in the Senate race to replace Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA). Although steadily narrowing, he still holds a considerable lead over Oz in most polling, up by 3.4 percentage points in the latest RealClearPolitics polling aggregate. The Cook Political Report ranks the race a toss-up.
The contest could be paramount to determining the balance of power in the evenly split Senate. Oz and Fetterman are set to debate on Oct. 25.
