Questions continue to circulate regarding Democrat Fetterman’s health in Pennsylvania Senate race

Uncertainties continue to surround the health of Pennsylvania Democratic Senate nominee John Fetterman's potentially serious medical issues ahead of the November election.

Earlier this week, the editorial board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette publicly questioned whether Fetterman was "well enough to debate his opponent" and that, if not, it "raises serious concerns about his ability to serve as a United States senator." Fetterman has previously declined to debate his Republican opponent Dr. Mehmet Oz, citing issues from the stroke he suffered in May. 

Later in the week, the Philadelphia Inquirer voiced similar concerns, with reporter Julia Terruso noting that Fetterman’s "lingering speech issues after his stroke" could "impact" his Senate run in some way. 

Terruso cited several uncomfortable incidences in public recently in which Fetterman stumbled over his words, such as when he referred to the lieutenant governor’s mansion as the "lieutenant governor governor," and when he suggested that Pennsylvanians want good-paying jobs in order to offer "easy, safe, kind of their income, a path to a safe place for them to win."

Fetterman has defended his own health since the stroke.

"My health now is robust. I’m able to live a normal life," he said on MSNBC at the end of August. "Driving, going to the grocery store ... it’s just that every now and then, I’m going to miss a word or mush two words together."

A speech pathologist told the Inquirer that "challenges with communication are extremely common in stroke survivors," the paper reported.