So John Fetterman finally returned to work this week. He wound up delivering remarks during a debate over potential modifications to the SNAP food assistance program. As far as the good news goes, he was at least dressed much more professionally than when he first got back to Washington when he was wearing cargo shorts and a hoodie. As he sat down to chair the committee he was in a fairly standard suit and tie. But that was about the end of the good news. He opened up a set of prepared remarks and attempted to read them into the record. I will emphasize the word “attempted” here quite strongly because, to put it mildly, it didn’t go well at all. (NY Post)

Sen. John Fetterman’s first time leading a hearing in the Senate on Wednesday was met with concern among social media users, with many saying that the Pennsylvania Democrat’s obvious trouble reading his opening statement signals that he is unfit to serve.

Fetterman, who suffered a stroke on the campaign trail and was hospitalized for five weeks for depression treatment last month, led the Senate Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on Food and Nutrition, Specialty Crops, Organics and Research hearing on Wednesday, stammering and stumbling through his two-minute-long opening remarks.

“Good lord. This dude is not remotely well or able to do this job. Embarrassing for Pennsylvania,” Outkick founder Clay Travis wrote in a tweet.

You can turn on the volume and listen to Fetterman’s opening remarks in this tweet from Greg Price.

John Fetterman chaired a subcommittee hearing today.

Here is his opening statement. pic.twitter.com/Y6EHYkhkBZ

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) April 19, 2023

That’s simply alarming, and I don’t want to be interpreted as making fun of Fetterman or treating him in a derogatory fashion. I feel bad for the guy. Whoever keeps propping him up and pushing him to do this should be ashamed of themselves.

As you can see in the clip above, this wasn’t even a case of John Fetterman answering questions off the cuff. He was reading directly from a written set of prepared remarks, or attempting to do so. He really doesn’t seem much different than he was before he checked into Walter Reed. He may have been sufficiently treated for his chronic depression, and I very much hope he was, but he is obviously not back to anything approaching normal.

I partially agree with comedian Tim Young’s take on this, though I think he goes a bit too far at the end.

Nothing says John Fetterman isn't fit to serve quite like him attempting to chair a committee hearing today…

This is pathetic and Democrats should be ashamed of themselves for continuing to wheel him out. pic.twitter.com/LqaMxKxe9W

— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) April 19, 2023

Young went on to add that there is “no way John Fetterman even knows what he’s saying here.” I’m not a doctor so I obviously don’t know if that’s true. Without more information from his doctors, I don’t know if we can conclude that he is experiencing cognitive issues or if he’s just having trouble processing and articulating communications. (Yes, it seems like there is a distinction between those things.)

But the reality is, John Fetterman’s job as a Senator representing the people of Pennsylvania consists almost exclusively of tasks that require coherent communications and the processing of information. He’s going to face significant challenges in making his points during debates. For that matter, will he even be able to read and process the buttons when it’s time to cast a vote and ensure he’s voting the way he intended to?

One doctor I saw giving an interview before Fetterman even went to Walter Reed said that people who suffer the particular type of stroke that he had have a better than 35% chance of experiencing a recurrence. And those odds can become worse if the person is regularly under stress. We’re already witnessing the effects of what one stroke did to him. I can’t even imagine what another one would do, assuming he is lucky enough to survive. He would probably be far better off at home and under the regular care of a specialist, at least in my non-professional opinion.