The liberal media didn’t care about the people of Pennsylvania being properly represented when they propped up struggling now-Democratic Senator John Fetterman’s candidacy; they certainly didn’t care about his health as the stress from the job and the recovery caused the Senator to check himself into Walter Reed Medical Center to treat his clinical depression. As some of his most outspoken supporters, The View spent part of their Friday show suggesting his hospitalization was a victory for transparency.
At the top of the segment, fill-in moderator Joy Behar suggested Fetterman’s admittance to Walter Reed showed just how far we’ve come in terms of politicians being honest about their health struggles:
There was a time we wouldn't have known this. When FDR was president, we concealed his affects from polio. He never was seen in public. He was on the radio and needed to use a wheelchair, nobody knew that. JFK never revealed to the public that he had Addison's disease. So, I applaud Fetterman for being so upfront about this.
“Do you think it will inspire other people to speak up when they need help or will people try to use it against him?” Behar fretted to the rest of the cast.
Racist Sunny Hostin whined that “people will try to use it against him,” praising him for being “so brave and courageous.” She also huffed that people call her “crazy” when she’s open about dealing with her own issues.
Faux conservative Ana Navarro, failing to realize that if it were a Republican they were talking about they would be treated this way, seemed to suggest it was the criticism that gave Fetterman his depression:
I was actually with Ben Lujan, the New Mexico senator who had a stroke while serving last year. And he mentioned to me, this was Tuesday night. He said, you know, the difference is when I had my stroke people were praying for me, people were pulling for me, people had my back. John is under attack constantly. They want him to resign. People are attacking his aptitude. And that gets to him.
Behar did seem to counter that notion by noting that “depression occurs in roughly one-third of stroke victims. So the depression might have been brought on by the stroke.”
Instead of going to the logical conclusion that Fetterman should have dropped out of the race so he could focus on his recovery, Sara Haines lamented that he needed to campaign while trying to recover:
You look at this man who is going through something life-transforming. And he didn't get a chance to recover fully. You're accepting your new version of yourself, what that means for him, his family, his loved ones. But he had to go out and defend himself every day for his cognitive abilities and fight for his right to continue his career. He had no time to grieve, adapt, all the feelings that go with these kinds of things.
“So, when you look at him, I commend him,” she proclaimed.
With less than a month to the 2022 midterm elections last year, The View was telling viewers that they needed to wait until January for him to fully recover. “Should he put that issue to rest or do people have to wait for him to get better in – for January?” Whoopi Goldberg suggested at the time.
Well, January came and went and Fetterman was still not out of the woods as promised. If he were a Republican (and who had a doctor that's donated to his campaign give him the green light), he certainly wouldn’t be getting this kind of favorable treatment. They would be calling him a liar and demanding his resignation.
This uncaring defense for Fetterman was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from CarShield and Ashley. Their contact information is linked.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
ABC’s The View
February 17, 2023
11:15:39 a.m. EasternJOY BEHAR: So, recently elected senator of Pennsylvania John Fetterman just checked himself into Walter Reed Medical Center to undergo treatment for depression.
There was a time we wouldn't have known this. When FDR was president, we concealed his affects from polio. He never was seen in public. He was on the radio and needed use a wheelchair, nobody knew that. JFK never revealed to the public that he had Addison's disease.
So, I applaud Fetterman for being so upfront about this. Do you think it will inspire other people to speak up when they need help or will people try to use it against him?
SUNNY HOSTIN: Well, people will try to use it against him. But I think it's so brave and courageous. I know Sara, you share your mental health struggles often and I always find that very brave. I have people in my family – as you know, we’ve talked about it – that struggle with mental health. And there's such a stigma attached to hit.
And I noticed it when I say I'm dealing with this issue, people get scared of it somehow and they start using the “crazy” term. I hope this changes that
BEHAR: But they're going to say he can't do his job, aren’t they?
HOSTIN: But he can do the job.
BEHAR: Most people are on his side.
[Crosstalk]
ANA NAVARRO: I was actually with Ben Lujan, the New Mexico senator who had a stroke while serving last year. And he mentioned to me, this was Tuesday night. He said, you know, the difference is when I had my stroke people were praying for me, people were pulling for me, people had my back. John is under attack constantly. They want him to resign. People are attacking his aptitude. And that gets to him.
Look, there's a huge difference between situational depression, which we all had. You lose a parent, you go through a divorce.
BEHAR: Well, that's different. That's sadness. There’s a difference in being sad and being depressed.
NAVARRO: That’s my point. There’s a huge difference. And clinical depression requires medical treatment. And there’s people who are afraid to seek treatment because they're afraid they might lose their job, because they’re afraid other people might find out. And so, this is incredibly important what he is doing.
BEHAR: By the way. By the way, depression occurs in roughly one third of stroke victims. So the depression might have been brought on by the stroke.
SARA HAINES: Absolutely. You look at this man who is going through something life transforming. And he didn't get a chance to recover fully. You're accepting your new version of yourself, what that means for him, his family, his loved ones. But he had to go out and defend himself every day for his cognitive abilities and fight for his right to continue his career. He had no time to grieve, adapt, all the feelings that go with these kind of things.
But the problem is people who need help – this a Glenn and Doyle quote – people who need help sometimes look like people who don't need help. So, the condition we all -- if you haven't read Glenn and Doyle, we all experience – it might be that the people are one step closer to feeling better. That we all have a condition.
So, when you look at him, I commend him because I think, until we treat a mental health issue, whatever that is, like a broken foot -- we're not there yet. And we aren’t there yet. Just look at insurance coverage and everything else they have from life insurance --
HOSTIN: That is shameful.
HAINES: It is shameful. And it's in black and white ink when you look it up. So, it’s awful. But until we’re at that point – So, I commend him because I do think by speaking to this it will -- the conversation needs to keep going.
BEHAR: Okay. We're going to take a break. We'll be right back.
