NBC correspondent says candidate couldn’t keep up with off-screen small talk.
QUICK FACTS:
- On Tuesday’s “NBC Nightly News” broadcast, NBC News Correspondent Dasha Burns talked about her interview with Pennsylvania Lt. Governor and U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman (D).
- She said that without the aid of a closed captioning system that his campaign “required” for the interview, Fetterman wasn’t able to follow their conversation.
- Host Lester Holt attempted to clarify that the interview experience with Fetterman was not typical, but Burns went on to say Fetterman’s struggles were due to his medical condition.
- “No, Lester, because of his stroke, Fetterman’s campaign required closed captioning technology for this interview to essentially read our questions as we asked them,” Burns said. “And, Lester, in small talk before the interview, without captioning, it wasn’t clear he was understanding our conversation.”
RESPONSE TO FETTERMAN’S INTERVIEW:
- Burns tweeted about the interview, saying it was “unlike any political interview” she has ever done and “unlike any race” she’s ever covered.
- CBS Senior White House & Political Correspondent Ed O’Keefe brought up the interview on social media saying it was an “important interview with top Senate contender. Will Pennsylvanians be comfortable with someone representing them who had to conduct a TV interview this way?”
- Seeming Fetterman supporter and author Jonathan Martin said, “This is a rough clip for John Fetterman, will only fuel questions about his health.”
- Some outright disagreed with the reporter’s take, including Vox’s Kara Swisher who took out her frustration on Burns, arguing, “Sorry to say but I talked to @JohnFetterman for over an hour without stop or any aides and this is just nonsense. Maybe this reporter is just bad at small talk.”
BACKGROUND:
- Fetterman, who previously served as the lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania, made headlines when he was reportedly “happy” to release a convicted killer who hacked a man to death with garden shears.
- The same convict, Charles “Zeke” Goldblum, later attempted to hire a hitman to kill his accomplice in the murder, which was part of an insurance fraud cover-up.
- Fetterman was chairman of Pennsylvania’s Board of Pardons at the time, which voted unanimously to release Goldblum from jail, even over the objections of his victim’s family.
