Senator John Fetterman (D-Pa.) wasted no time getting down to business after he returned to work from a two-month hiatus, but from the way that his first stab at chairing a subcommittee hearing went he may be wishing that he’d have stayed away from Washington, D.C. for a while longer.
To say that Fetterman’s big debut was an unmitigated disaster would be a colossal understatement with the words ‘train wreck’ being an appropriate description for a performance so shockingly bad that even his protectors in the media may have a hard time running cover for him this time.
On Monday, the lumbering leftist lawmaker made his triumphant return to the nation’s capital after he underwent treatment for clinical depression at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, rolling up and disembarking from the vehicle that delivered him to the U.S. Capitol looking like a homeless person clad in his trademark grungy hoodie, shorts and tennis shoes, briefly waving at fans and scampering away without taking questions from reporters.
Two days later, Pennsylvania’s newly elected senator only confirmed the suspicions of critics that he isn’t mentally fit for the rigors of the job with his fumbling, bumbling delivery that was so bad that it made his senile Senate colleague Dianne Feinstein seem lucid by comparison.
Train wreck? pic.twitter.com/ybabX3h8MM
— TallTanOne (@TallTanOne) April 20, 2023
After the dumpster fire of a debut, a staffer was observed holding up an iPad like an improvised teleprompter to assist the cognitively challenged Fetterman, the brief glimpse, akin to Toto pulling back the curtain on the Wizard of Oz, was visible for a short time on CSPAN before the camera cut away.
Fetterman's staffer is helping him through the meeting. pic.twitter.com/LGRYbCzvzR
— TallTanOne (@TallTanOne) April 20, 2023
It’s understandable that Fetterman’s handlers wanted to prop him up in the saddle and send him out to dispel any lingering doubts about his health, of which there have been many since he suffered a debilitating stroke last year before his latest hospital stay. But heading up the Subcommittee on Food and Nutrition, Specialty Crops, Organics, and Research hearing on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits may have been a bit too much to ask of him so soon after his return from the disabled list.
“Cut SNAP for families and kids while pushing tax cuts for billionaires? Not on my watch,” declared Fetterman in a statement, tough talk that he struggled mightily to replicate in a real committee setting.
Twitter users reacted to Fetterman’s brutal faceplant that, in a country with an honest media, would be an emperor has no clothes moment.
He sounds like Biden
— Asaad Sam Hanna (@AsaadHannaa) April 19, 2023
Democrat vegetable John Fetterman has already entered his Dianne Feinstein phase of total dementia. https://t.co/vUHciu7T7H
— Emerald Robinson ✝️ (@EmeraldRobinson) April 19, 2023
So glad we are sending the best of the best to congress.
— Creature of Habit2 (@CreatureHabit2) April 19, 2023
It’s a short trip back to depression. I feel awful for this guy.
— Sandals (@13Sandals) April 19, 2023
So nice we finally let special needs people be Senators.
— Tyler Shaw (@boowiebear) April 19, 2023
This is so incredibly sad and pitiful. WTF is he doing in such a high position of power? He must step down immediately. https://t.co/gD39UyEmkT
— MatthewXRP (@Matthew_XRP) April 19, 2023
https://twitter.com/CarpeDonktum/status/1648780054296424450?s=20
The Babylon Bee just couldn’t resist.
“All legislative activity was brought to a screeching halt today as returning Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman unintentionally filibustered the Senate for over seven hours while trying to say ‘Hello,'” joked the popular satirical website.
“This is not a Republican or Democratic issue. SNAP is a critical safety net for ALL Americans, families, seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities. It’s time to come together and stop playing political games with Americans’ access to food,” the senator said in a statement before Wednesday’s hearing.
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