Gisele Fetterman, the wife of Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. and Democratic Senate nominee John Fetterman, argued that NBC reporter Dasha Burns should face “consequences” for claiming that the candidate struggled to engage in small talk with her.
Fetterman has faced increased scrutiny from the national press due to his lack of transparency about his stroke recovery. The Democrat has struggled at times to speak clearly in front of crowds and has refused to debate Republican opponent Mehmet Oz until Oct. 25, more than a month after Pennsylvanians begin voting. NBC News reporter Dasha Burns, who recently interviewed Fetterman, said Tuesday that the candidate “had a hard time understanding our conversations.”
“What a disservice that she did to not only my husband but to anyone facing a disability and working through it, and I don’t know how there were not consequences. I mean, there are consequences for folks in these positions who are any of the -isms. I mean, she was ableist. That’s what she was in her interview. It was appalling to the entire disability community and, I think, to journalism,” Gisele Fetterman told podcast host Molly Jong-Fast.
Gisele Fetterman with harsh words for NBC’s Dasha Burns, saying her description of “small talk” with her husband left her feeling close to “rage.”
“I don’t know how there were not consequences.”
Indicated that she wants an apology, but it hasn’t come.
Full quote below #PASEN https://t.co/Lf7GFHNOY0 pic.twitter.com/qc5FGY3Ksh
— Will McDuffie (@wrmcduff) October 14, 2022
“I’m still really upset about it,” Pennsylvania’s second lady continued. “And I think the positive [is] it’s brought a lot of conversations around accommodations, around rights, around ableism. I mean, ableism was trending on Twitter. It just shows there’s so much work to do, but these networks have to take accountability, right?”
The Fetterman campaign did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller’s inquiries about what consequences Gisele Fetterman wants Burns to face and whether or not the campaign itself would support consequences for the reporter. (RELATED: John Fetterman Releases Doctor’s Note After Stroke, Reveals He ‘Almost Died’)
The Brazilian-born Gisele Fetterman has served as a prominent surrogate for her husband, who did not make a public appearance between mid-March, when he suffered his stroke, and mid-August. When The Washington Post’s editorial board urged the Senate candidate to participate in at least two debates, his wife accused the board of publishing the piece solely to drive traffic to the Post’s website.
“Well, I think obviously they want clicks and that’s what that was about,” she said.
Although polls showed Fetterman leading by roughly eight points for most of the summer, Oz has begun to close the gap in recent weeks. Fetterman currently leads Oz by 3.4 points in the RealClearPolitics polling average.