John Fetterman Receives Boost as Republicans Grill Him Over Health Woes

Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) stands for a photo opportunity in Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) office at the U.S. Capitol on November 15, 2022 in Washington, DC. Fetterman is receiving treatment for clinical depression.

• A Redfield & Wilton Strategies poll has found that a majority of Americans approve of Democratic Senator John Fetterman taking a leave of absence from the Senate in order to recover from depression.
• The polling comes as Fetterman spokesperson Joe Calvello told The Philadelphia Inquirer that the Democrat could be out of the hospital soon.
• There appeared to be broad agreement among those who voted for President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election.

A majority of Americans approve of Democratic Senator John Fetterman taking a leave absence from the Senate in order to recover from depression, according to a new poll.

A Redfield & Wilton Strategies poll conducted on behalf of Newsweek among 1,500 eligible voters on March 22 found that 33 percent of respondents strongly approved of the senator taking leave, while a further 28 percent said they approved of the move.

The polling came as Fetterman spokesperson Joe Calvello told The Philadelphia Inquirer on Friday that the Democrat should be out of the hospital “soon,” but didn’t provide an exact timeline.

“John will be out soon. Over a week but soon,” Calvello said, adding that “recovery is going really well.”

Fetterman is being treated for clinical depression at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland. He checked himself into the facility on February 15.

Pennsylvania Republicans have questioned Fetterman’s ability to serve and on February 28, the Washington County Republican Party released a statement calling on Fetterman to appear on camera to “show us he is alive and well, and if he is unable to do so, we call upon our elected Representatives in Washington, Senator [Bob] Casey and Congressman [Guy] Reschenthaler, to intervene immediately.”

Sean Logue, chair of the Washington County Republican Party, told Newsweek earlier this month that they had not received the video of Fetterman they requested.

“We have been professional and polite, but the only responses we have gotten are hate mail or calls where our request has been twisted into an attack on people with mental-health challenges,” Logue said.

“The campaign lied about Senator Fetterman’s fitness for office, and threatened anyone who questioned it,” he added.

Nonetheless, the Redfield & Wilton Strategies poll appears to show that a majority of eligible voters support Fetterman’s efforts at recovery from depression.

The survey found that just 3 percent of respondents said they would disapprove of Fetterman taking leave from the Senate and another 3 percent said they would strongly disapprove.

A further 24 percent said that they would neither approve nor disapprove and 9 percent responded “don’t know.”

There also appeared to be broad agreement among those who voted for President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election, with 32 percent of Biden voters saying they would strongly approve of Fetterman taking leave and 30 percent saying they would approve.

Just 1 percent said they would disapprove, and another 1 percent of Biden voters said they would strongly disapprove, while 28 percent said they neither approved nor disapproved and 8 percent answered “don’t know.”

It was a similar picture among Trump voters, with 37 percent saying they would approve of Fetterman taking leave, 25 percent saying they would approve the move and 18 percent saying they neither approved nor disapproved.

A further 6 percent of Trump voters said they would strongly disapprove of Fetterman taking leave, while 5 percent said they would disapprove and 8 percent responded “don’t know.”

Newsweek has reached out to Fetterman’s office via email for comment.

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