Journalists, leftists, and members of the establishment media collectively trashed NBC News Correspondent Dasha Burns for highlighting Pennsylvania Democrat U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman’s impairments due to a previous stroke.
During Tuesday’s broadcast of NBC Nightly News, Burns noted Fetterman’s stroke has impaired him in a variety of ways, from his comprehension to his basic speech, to the point of him needing a closed captioning system during their in-person interview.
“Fetterman’s campaign required closed captioning technology for this interview to essentially read our questions as we asked them,” she told fellow reporter Lester Holt. “In small talk before the interview, without captioning, it wasn’t clear he was understanding our conversation.”
Clips of the interview immediately began circulating all over social media and they did Fetterman little favors:
NBC: "We've asked for your medical records… you've declined. Why?"
Fetterman: "Our doctor has already given a record saying I'm ready to serve."
NBC: "That letter was six months ago. Don't voters deserve to know your status now?"
Fetterman: I do speeches and give interviews pic.twitter.com/5yDNvaeYdN
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) October 11, 2022
Establishment media figures and leftists expressed deep displeasure with Burns over the interview, accusing her of malpractice, handicap insensitivity, or just plainly being terrible at her job.
“I interviewed [Fetterman], he understood everything I was saying and he was funny,” tweeted Molly Jong-Fast.
I interviewed @JohnFetterman here, he understood everything I was saying and he was funny https://t.co/NTITXDtqxY https://t.co/nMhIXMvbTY
— Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJongFast) October 12, 2022
Sorry to say but I talked to @JohnFetterman for over an hour without stop or any aides and this is just nonsense. Maybe this reporter is just bad at small talk. https://t.co/CX9B7qWUaS
— Kara Swisher (@karaswisher) October 12, 2022
As someone who has recently interviewed him: Fetterman’s comprehension is not at all impaired. He understands everything, it’s just that he reads it (which requires extra acuity, I’d argue) and responds in real time. It’s a hearing/auditory processing challenge. https://t.co/RzmyfBDJX6
— Rebecca Traister (@rtraister) October 12, 2022
This is what representation looks like.
Mocking or making fun of Fetterman or Biden or anyone with a disability in politics is a signal that disabled people are unwelcome. It will backfire.
Up to 40% of the electorate has a condition that could be a disability. https://t.co/U16esUEZOy
— Kendall Ciesemier (@kciesemier) October 12, 2022
I genuinely hate this so f—ing much. https://t.co/R9Px8YEWJO
— Kendall Ciesemier (@kciesemier) October 12, 2022
It’s hearing impairment from his stroke, not some kind of cognitive deficiency. What is wrong with you https://t.co/5ygWk8d6lv
— VideoCHOAM (@samthielman) October 12, 2022
Any news outlets genuinely wondering about his health could send a health/medicine reporter. Maybe don’t just invent a storyline. https://t.co/h4Rj8YUS0z
— Adam Rogers (@jetjocko) October 12, 2022
I dislike watching NBC News—a giant, agenda-setting institution—and its reporter deliberately fixate on and exoticize Fetterman’s straightforward accommodations for his disability. I wish it wasn’t like this in America. https://t.co/7KdqMYZHIK
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) October 12, 2022
I think he needs closed captioning – the exact type of assistance a deaf person often needs – because he's not having issues with comprehension. It's a pretty clear point actually. https://t.co/cQUuaOuOD5
— Hunter Walker (@hunterw) October 12, 2022
Good moment for a gut check here. Fetterman has said he misses words and pushes them together, and been transparent about needing closed captioning. I’m biased but when I watch the clip I see a guy recovering and recovering overcoming a challenge. I wonder what voters will see. https://t.co/fEBxh1AamJ
— Adam Jentleson (@AJentleson) October 12, 2022
completely fair to bring up Fetterman not releasing his medical records, given his stroke.
But if he needs closed captioning for an extended time moving forward, are we to believe the senate can't accommodate?
What if a deaf person was elected or a senator became deaf?
— Ryan Deto (@RyanDeto) October 12, 2022
Right, this👇. Fetterman has been transparent about the lingering issues from his stroke, including the need for closed captioning. Not bad for a recovery! Yet NBC is penalizing him for using exactly what he has publicly said he needs, and treating it like some kind of expose. https://t.co/1K79VUeWrf
— Adam Jentleson (@AJentleson) October 12, 2022
Really trying not to be snarky, but maybe it was your ‘small talk’ that just wasn’t interesting, and he didn’t have time for it for whatever reason.
That’s not the story.
I’ve interviewed many where they’re like, ‘why are they asking me about the game? Can we start?’— DanWeinbaumKMBZ (@DanWeinbaumKMBZ) October 12, 2022
Does @DashaBurns know @JohnFetterman was bad at small talk when he ran in 2016?
Does she know a lot of electeds suck at small talk?
— melissa “cancelled student debt” byrne (@mcbyrne) October 12, 2022
This was a cheap shot. “In small talk before my interview [with Fetterman], it wasn’t clear he understood what I was saying.”
— Lois Romano (@loisromano) October 12, 2022
We're on the verge of a full-on national meltdown — the end of what's left of democracy, the undoing of 100 years of civil rights progress, and an apocalyptic environmental catastrophe — and national media is focused on whether a Senate candidate can make acceptable small talk.
— Jordan Zakarin (@jordanzakarin) October 12, 2022
If you have actual concerns about his cognitive capacity fair enough, but as someone who has to instruct people to talk in specific ways so I can understand them, I don’t see what the issue is with Fetterman using assistive tech in an interview: https://t.co/fEUvnkOPxO
— Tim Marchman (@timmarchman) October 12, 2022
Clear that @DashaBurns working hard to undermine @JohnFetterman with framing, editing that does not represent his recovery. But regardless, it is an intentional distraction from what matters in this election: voting on policy, where Fetterman is popular & good, and Oz is not. https://t.co/YKE4dTpmT3
— David Rothschild 🌻 (@DavMicRot) October 12, 2022
Here's a good roundup of why using closed captioning (and being transparent about it) is a perfectly reasonable thing to do. Fetterman has openly discussed jumbling/slurring/etc words during his recovery and is making really good progress! https://t.co/zrLvOJJZtn
— s. eek smith 👻 (@sesmith) October 12, 2022
This is such an appalling lapse on Dasha Burns' part. A person with a disability asks for an accommodation, you provide it, and then you criticize them for struggling without it? Really? Really? https://t.co/oAyQQk5XFb
— Angus Johnston (@studentactivism) October 12, 2022
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