Trust them, his campaign says John Fetterman is healthy. What more proof do you want? Test results? Nah. Fetterman isn’t releasing his cognitive health test results. Don’t be so unreasonable.
It’s being reported today that Fetterman took two cognitive tests, one in July and another this week. The Pennsylvania Democratic Senate nominee’s campaign will only say that he took two tests and verbally deliver the result of one of them. They will not provide any documentation to back their claims of the candidate’s cognitive health.
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Fetterman took two cognitive tests earlier this year, one being the Saint Louis University Mental Status Examination (SLUMS) and the other being the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS).
The SLUMS test, which consists of simple memory questions and requires patients to perform basic tasks like recognizing a shape and drawing in X inside of it, was taken by Fetterman on July 14 and the RBANS test was taken by Fetterman this week, according to the Inquirer. The RBANS test consists of an assessment related to immediate memory, delayed memory, attention, language, and other functions.
The campaign said that his test results from both tests were in line with his age and educational level.
Fetterman reportedly scored 28 out of 30 on the SLUMS test, and a score between 27 and 30 is typically considered normal for a high school graduate, the Inquirer reported. The campaign has not released the RBANS score, but told the Inquirer it was within normal limits.
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So, if the second test results came back normal, why not give that score like they did the other test? Just giving one without the other looks suspicious. The campaign also will not share any documentation of the test results or provide the name of the therapist who did the testing.
Fetterman’s ability to do the job of a U.S. senator has been called into question by his GOP opponent, Dr. Mehmet Oz, as well as the editorial board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. At the time, Fetterman refused to commit to a debate with Oz.
“If Mr. Fetterman is not well enough to debate his opponent, that raises serious concerns about his ability to serve as a United States senator,” the Post-Gazette editorial board wrote.
Fetterman suffered a stroke in May, had surgery, and was hospitalized for a week. He was essentially missing in action while recovering at home. His wife and campaign continued to be his voice and try to reassure his supporters that everything was fine. However, once Fetterman did re-emerge and speak in public, it quickly became clear that he is not back to normal. One of the conditions he insisted upon to consent to a debate is that he be allowed to use closed captioning in order to keep up with the dialogue. Team Oz agreed to Fetterman’s conditions, including a shortened debate, and Fetterman being allowed to rehearse but not given the actual debate questions.
For Oz’s part, he held back and didn’t criticize Fetterman or question his ability to do the job, if he’s elected, for a reasonable length of time. Fetterman whines now that Oz is being mean to him but the fact is that Oz has an obligation to question Fetterman’s recovery. Oz is a medical doctor and is the right person to do so.
The campaign has an obligation to the voters to be transparent. If they want to win the confidence of voters, release the documentation of the cognitive test results. He’s been given every consideration. The RCP aggregated average has Fetterman up by 4 points.
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