John Fetterman raises $1m after debate-stirring NBC interview

The NBC interview kicked off a flurry of commentary online from both the left and the right

John Fetterman, the Democratic candidate challenging Dr Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania’s crucial Senate race, reportedly raised $1m in the days since a bombshell interview with NBC News aired.

Mr Fetterman’s campaign announced on Wednesday night that he’d raised the million-dollar figure in less than 36 hours since the Tuesday night sit down with reporter Dasha Burns aired on the network.

The interview, which was the Democratic candidate’s first TV sit-down since suffering a stroke back in May, kicked off a flurry of controversy online after Ms Burns disclosed ahead of its screening that the recovering candidate required the use of closed captioning to understand her questions.

An additional comment from the NBC reporter, where she said Mr Fetterman seemed to have a hard time understanding small talk ahead of their interview without the assistance of the closed caption technology, has similarly attracted attention.

The conservative website Townhall.com tweeted a quote from Ms Burns but did not disclose that the NBC reporter had been referring to small talk and not the actual interview she had conducted with Mr Fetterman.

Doug Andres, the press secretary for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, tweeted that it was weird to see Democrats attack a reporter for doing her job.

“It’s almost like that whole thing about respecting and trusting the media is only true when it’s convenient for them,” he tweeted.

While Republicans have seized on it as an opportunity to re up their campaign concerns that the Senate candidate is medically unfit for the position, sympathisers and supporters of Mr Fetterman took the comments from the NBC reporter to reflect both an ableist position and an incorrect characterisation of his capabilities.

“I’ve frequently campaigned with @JohnFetterman and had no problem making ‘small talk’,” tweeted Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey Jr in support of his fellow Democrat.

“Sorry to say but I talked to @JohnFetterman for over an hour without stop or any aides and this is just nonsense,” tweeted Kara Swisher, a reporter who recently interviewed the Pennsylvania Senate hopeful for her podcast, and herself suffered a stroke back in 2011.

For her part, Ms Burns has towed the line and stood by her remarks, writing on Twitter on Wednesday that, “our reporting did not and should not comment on fitness for office.”

“This is for voters to decide. What we push for as reporters is transparency. It’s our job.”

The haul from the Fetterman campaign marks one of the bigger fundraising efforts the team’s made since the infamous Dr Oz crudité snafu, where the campaign said it raised $500,000 since his Republican opponent posted the widely panned video of himself shopping for groceries.

The two candidates are running to fill the seat of retiring Republican Senator Pat Toomey, who was one of seven Republicans who voted to convict former president Donald Trump for his role in the January 6 riot.