Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, who had a stroke during his campaign last year, has been admitted to George Washington University Hospital after feeling lightheaded while attending a Democratic retreat, his office reported Wednesday night.
Tests conducted so far have not revealed any signs of a new stroke, according to Fetterman’s communications director, Joe Calvello. He is being kept in the hospital for further examination.
“He is in good spirits and talking with his staff and family. We will provide more information when we have it,” Calvello said.
In November, John Fetterman, 53, was victorious in securing the seat previously held by the now-retired Pat Toomey, after a fiercely contested election with the Republican nominee Mehmet Oz. Fetterman, the Lieutenant Governor at the time, won by a margin of 5 percentage points, thus flipping the seat and ensuring that the Democrats would retain control of the Senate. The campaign was expensive, with a total of $300 million being spent, making it the most expensive Senate election of 2022.
Unfortunately, on May 13th, Fetterman suffered a near-fatal stroke just days prior to the Democratic primary. Despite this, he continued to campaign, but refused to release his medical records or allow his doctors to answer questions from the media.
Oz questioned whether his opponent was honest about the effects of the stroke and whether Fetterman was fit to serve, but the Democrat insisted his doctors said he could make a full recovery.
As a result of the stroke, Fetterman has struggled with auditory processing disorder, a common side effect that can leave a person unable to speak fluently and quickly process spoken conversation into meaning.
At the fall campaign’s only debate, Fetterman’s performance had been uneven, evidence of the effects of his stroke – he struggled to get his words out, sentences were incomplete and jumbled.
On the night of the election, he spoke to a crowd of supporters and declared that he had run for “anyone who has ever been knocked down but got back up.”
Standing at 6-foot-8, with a bald head and a goatee, John Fetterman is a recognizable figure, usually seen wearing hoodies and shorts. Serving as lieutenant governor from 2019 to 2023, he was previously mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania, from 2006 to 2019.