Fetterman hears voices like undecipherable Peanuts cartoon character after stroke: Report
Cami Mondeaux
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Nearly nine months after Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) suffered a stroke on the campaign trail, the first-term senator faces lingering health challenges as he adjusts to life in the Senate.
He continues to struggle with auditory processing, making it difficult to understand the words of his colleagues. At its worst, Fetterman says it can feel like deciphering the voice of the teacher from the Peanuts cartoon, according to the New York Times.
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Although he has been given accommodations to help ease his transition, several members of his staff have voiced concerns that he needs to take things slow. Those concerns only grew after Fetterman was hospitalized earlier this week after feeling lightheaded.
“What you’re supposed to do to recover from [a stroke] is do as little as possible,” Adam Jentleson, his chief of staff, told the outlet. “[Fetterman] was forced to do as much as possible — he had to get back to the campaign trail. It’s hard to claw that back.”
Fetterman’s first health scare, in May 2022, raised serious questions about whether he was fit to hold office, particularly after it was revealed he had failed to follow up with doctors prior to the stroke despite being diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat in 2017. However, the Pennsylvania Democrat was able to overcome intense scrutiny and went on to win one of the most competitive Senate races of the midterm cycle.
Since then, Fetterman has struggled to adapt to the fast pace on Capitol Hill, with his impairments making an already demanding job more difficult.
He’s been offered technology and office upgrades to help him acclimate. Fetterman has a newly installed computer monitor that can be adjusted depending on whether the Pennsylvania senator wishes to stand or sit. The screen also provides closed captioning so he can follow along with congressional proceedings.
Fetterman has a similar setup at the center dais in the Senate chamber, with officials giving him a custom standing desk with the same closed-captioning technology for when he must preside over the upper chamber.
The sergeant-at-arms has also arranged for live transcription for the Senate committees that Fetterman sits on, with plans to expand this access to all Senate hearings in the coming months.
The transcription services are meant to help with one of Fetterman’s most serious ailments: his auditory processing issues stemming from a neurological impairment caused by the stroke, something that hinders his ability to hear clearly, with the condition worsening whenever he feels stressed.
It’s not clear what caused Fetterman’s hospitalization on Wednesday, but doctors determined it was not a second stroke. The senator is being monitored for signs of a seizure.
Meanwhile, Fetterman’s fellow Democrats have lauded him for his first month on the job, dismissing the idea that his accommodations are distracting.
“He answers like you would answer anyone,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) told the New York Times, referring to Fetterman’s use of a tablet to transcribe personal conversations. “It’s us that have to get used to it. He’s used to it.”
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Others have pointed to the adjustments as a necessary shift in Senate culture.
“The right attitude has to be consistent with what we hope we learned in the last 30 years or so — that we can provide reasonable accommodations in the workplace,” Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) said. “If we’re doing it right, it should not be him adapting to the workplace, it should be senators in both parties adapting and accommodating him, just like we would anyone.”