Democratic U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman’s own wife, Gisele, now says her husband is “disabled” and part of the “disabled community” following his stroke on May 13.
Gisele Fetterman made the remarks following an explosive interview earlier this week, in which a reporter noted that Fetterman was using a speech-to-text transcription tool to conduct an interview, and noted that he had trouble communicating during “small talk.”
Fetterman’s camp has taken issue with the reporter’s description of his inability to communicate fluidly, declaring that it’s a “hearing/auditory challenge” and not a reflection on the man’s health. Now, his wife is taking issue with the reporter, suggesting she holds prejudice against the disabled.
“What a disservice that she did to not only my husband but to anyone facing a disability and working through it,” said Mrs. Fetterman.
“I mean, she was ableist,” she declared. “It was appalling to the entire disability community and I think to journalism”
Gisele Fetterman with harsh words for NBC's Dasha Burns, saying her description of "small talk" with her husband left her feeling close to "rage."
"I don't know how there were not consequences."
Indicated that she wants an apology, but it hasn't come.
Full quote below #PASEN https://t.co/Lf7GFHNOY0 pic.twitter.com/qc5FGY3Ksh
— Will McDuffie (@wrmcduff) October 14, 2022
She continued, asserting that “the positive is it’s brought a lot of conversations around accommodations, around rights, around ableism. I mean, ableism was trending on Twitter.”
Gisele Fetterman made the remarks during an appearance on a podcast hosted by fringe leftist writer Molly Jong-Fast on Friday, and conservatives have begun to notice Fetterman’s new membership in the “disabled community.”
Again, this all came after Fetterman was exposed for being unable to hold a basic conversation with a reporter and relying on a speech-to-text transcription device to conduct his interviews.
“We had a monitor set up so he could read my questions,” the reporter said, as Valiant News reported earlier this week. “He has a hard time understanding what he’s hearing.”
“Now, once he reads the question, he’s able to understand. You’ll see here that he also still has some problems, some challenges, with speech,” she added. “And I’ll say, Katie, that just in some of the small talk prior to the interview, before the closed captioning was up and running. It did seem that he had a hard time understanding our conversation.”
John Fetterman sat down with NBC News for an interview tonight. He had to used closed captioning during the interview, the reporter says he had trouble speaking in the "small talk" before the captioning was on, and Fetterman's team is refusing to give them his medical records. pic.twitter.com/Y6tDhYMEPB
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) October 11, 2022
This latest development comes amid what seems to be a shift in messaging for Fetterman’s campaign.
While his staff previously maintained that the Democrat was making great progress in his stroke recovery, following the disastrous interview, his campaign has attempted to flip Fetterman’s bad health and frame it as a trait he shares with voters.
Fetterman faces Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz in the general election this November.
