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small rural town who rose to national prominence, could in itself fill the pages of a com- ic book. Left for dead both literally and figuratively, he was resurrected as one of the most powerful — not to men- tion enigmatic — senators in America. Only three years ago, Fet-
T
terman was a budding star of the left — endorsed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in his 2022 Democrat race. He had supported Democrat so- cialist Sen. Bernie Sanders for president. Fetterman advocated for
far-left issues on the campaign trail, including implementing universal healthcare and an in- creased minimum wage. Actress Kerry Washington
endorsed him, as did pop star John Legend and Oprah Win- frey — even though Winfrey had helped launch the tele- vision career of Fetterman’s Republican opponent, Dr.
he curious case of John Fetterman, a tattooed, 6-foot-8-inch former mayor of a
Mehmet Oz. But after securing the nomi-
nation, Fetterman’s trajectory appeared to hit a wall in May, when a near-fatal stroke threat- ened to derail his campaign. Following the health scare,
Fetterman often struggled to communicate with lingering auditory processing issues, relying on assistance through devices with closed captioning to properly have conversations and answer questions. Still, he refused to drop out
and spent most of the remain- ing months of the campaign in recovery, refusing to release his medical records or allow his doctors to answer questions. However, the devastating
effects of the stroke became ap- parent to everyone during the campaign’s only debate. In front of a national audience, Fetter- man struggled to form sentenc- es and often jumbled words.
He infamously introduced
himself to the millions watch- ing with: “Hi. Good night, everybody.” The rest of the evening would prove equally problematic. Following the October de-
bate, clips of Fetterman stum- bling through sentences went viral across social media. For Republicans, his debate
performance made him a na- tional punch line. For Demo- crats, the concern was that his election was doomed. And with it, the balance of the U.S. Senate. In November 2022, Fetter-
man defeated Oz in a campaign that saw more than $300 mil- lion spent, making it the year’s most expensive Senate race. However, winning the Sen-
ate seat didn’t provide relief. Instead, in the aftermath of victory, he became overcome by severe depression. Four months after pulling
In November 2022, Fetterman defeated Oz in a campaign that saw more than $300 million spent, making it the year’s most expensive Senate race.
54 NEWSMAX | FEBRUARY 2025
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