This past Wednesday, Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) expressed that he believes that Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) will experience complete recovery after he is given treatment for his depression.
Fetterman was recently hospitalized in the wake of feeling lightheaded while attending a Democratic Senate retreat earlier this month and subsequently checked himself into the hospital’s inpatient care for severe clinical depression roughly one week later, a move which is slated to sideline the newly elected legislator from his work for a number of weeks. Shapiro, who was also recently elected and inaugurated into his first term last month, stated in an interview held with the Philadelphia Inquirer that he thinks that Fetterman will “come back stronger than ever” in the wake of the treatment.
“He’s going to get the help that he needs,” stated Shapiro to the outlet, “and do a great job for the people of Pennsylvania as their senator for a long time.”
Fetterman, who has served previously as the lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania and mayor of the Rust Belt town of Braddock, suffered from a stroke and was totally hospitalized back in May of 2022, just a week prior to the vote for the Democratic primary for the open Senate seat in Pennsylvania. As the official’s cardiologist, Ramesh Chandra made the claim that Fetterman would be able to make a bid for office and be a representative for the commonwealth as long as he “takes his medication, eats healthy, and stays active.”
Shapiro would have the power to appoint someone as a temporary replacement for Fetterman should he choose to resign from the role. He stated to the Philadelphia Inquirer that not a single prominent Pennsylvania Democrat has pushed for him to request that Fetterman resign and went on to clarify that he “would dismiss” any pressure of that kind “immediately.” The former Pennsylvania attorney general added that he is “really inspired” by Fetterman and his choice to be entirely open in regard to his mental health issues.
The battle between Dr. Mehmet Oz, his unsuccessful Republican rival, and Fetterman was rife with questions about the mental acuity of the former candidate. After recusing himself from the campaign trail for close to two months, Fetterman could be seen stuttering, slurring his words, and constantly losing his train of thought during speeches all through the summer and fall. When the pair of candidates ascended to the debate stage this past October, Fetterman quickly faltered and provided very broken and choppy responses despite the inclusion of a closed captions system set up directly behind the moderators.
