Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. and Senate candidate John Fetterman shocked media pundits Tuesday following a nationally televised interview with NBC News reporter Dasha Burns.
Fetterman drew criticism from Philadelphia radio host Chris Stigall Wednesday for his use of closed captioning technology during his interview with NBC. Stigall said this is the first time that he can recall a candidate running for statewide office who had to rely on this type of technology to get through an interview.
“Do you understand the newsworthiness of this?” Stigall asked. “No reporter ever said what she (Burns) just said. It’s not that Fetterman needs a teleprompter, it’s what Burns said in a very quick little set-up.”
Burns referenced Fetterman’s recent stroke and told viewers that she wasn’t sure that Fetterman could understand the conversation they were having.
“I credit Dasha Burns for being that candid,” Stigall said. “Frankly, that’s considered mean. I am sure that Dasha Burns and NBC News are getting a bunch of angry tweets and emails about how mean they were in talking about the fact that Fetterman couldn’t understand their casual conversation.”
Stigall said that many political operatives who have run campaigns would freak out if their candidate couldn’t understand basic human communication.
“There is not a person in politics that if you hooked them up to a lie detector test that wouldn’t be crapping their pants right now after hearing that exchange,” he added.
