Ace Dufresne: Ableism distracting Pa. voters
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“As a lifelong liberal, I still can’t justify voting for the handicapped. He is mentally unable to perform the job.” “This man, much like the president, can’t even finish a sentence!“ “Dr. Oz has a functional brain … unlike John “Fetterwoman.””
These are responses I’ve received while text-banking with the Sunrise Movement for Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, Pennsylvania’s Democratic candidate for Senate. I have seen racism, misogyny, homophobia and transphobia in response to the nearly 8,000 messages I’ve sent out, but none of these are as blatant, pervasive and disturbing as the ableism I’ve encountered.
Fetterman and President Joe Biden are not beyond criticism — not even close. But the accusation that either “can’t finish a coherent sentence” does not make my list of grudges against them. A speech impairment or any disability for that matter, just like someone’s gender or race, should never even come into consideration.
Multiple times I have been referred to the NBC News interview with Fetterman as proof that he “can barely speak.” The fact that the interview is more than half an hour long spells out “l-i-e.”
Does Fetterman benefit from closed captioning? Yes. Did Fetterman’s stroke in May give him auditory processing issues? Yes. Does Fetterman sometimes have trouble getting a word or two out? Yes. Finally, are any of these concerns relevant to politics? No.
A lot of the coverage of Fetterman’s stroke revolves around recovery in the hopes of avoiding accommodations such as closed-captioning in the future. While when Fetterman says he is recovering, I believe him, it is also beside the point. In the end, what is expected to happen if Fetterman were to bring a computer with a closed-captioning program with him to the Senate in January? How could any Pennsylvania voter be negatively impacted?
Throughout the news coverage of Fetterman’s stroke, he has been repeatedly pressured to release all of his medical information. Within the above mentioned NBC interview alone, reporter Dasha Burns asked him about this 10 times. It is argued that voters have the right to know the details of Fetterman’s condition, as if Fetterman’s health and recovery are about and for voters, rather than himself.
Especially after his stroke has hindered his campaign for so long, Fetterman should be able to focus on the issues he and the average American care about. Instead, Fetterman’s campaign released an updated medical report, stating that he has “no work restrictions and can work full duty in public office.” But rather than end it, this report only heightened voters’ obsession with Fetterman’s health. In this ableist society, you can never win.
When the first debate between Fetterman and his opponent, Dr. Mehmet Oz, rolled around, Fetterman spent a large portion of his introductory speech addressing, to quote him, “the elephant in the room.” “And I might miss some words during this debate, mush two words together,” Fetterman admitted, “but it knocked me down. But I’m going to keep coming back up.”
I hope from the bottom of my heart that you believe him rather than brush him off with an ableist “Bro literally can’t understand English.” I hope for all of us that you aren’t distracted from what is really at stake this election.
For me, as a young person whose future will depend on who wins this crucial race, it is infuriating that so many are hyper-focused on Fetterman’s auditory processing rather than the policies he supports.
It is infuriating that Burns badgered Fetterman about his health as relentlessly as she did and we’re concerned about his hearing rather than her listening.
It is infuriating that this ableist framework, in which our futures are weighed against inconsequential symptoms of an auditory processing disorder, has been accepted as legitimate and reached voters who now readily claim that Fetterman “isn’t physically or mentally up to the job.”
There is a very thick line between concern and patronization, between questions and interrogation and between reason and discrimination. Too many voters have marched over this line in a distraction we can ill afford.
Ace Dufresne is a student at Ithaca High School in New York state and a member of the Sunrise Movement.