Real Journalists™ are still fuming at NBC News’ Dasha Burns for accurately reporting that during her recent interview with John Fetterman — the only in-person interview he’s done in recent memory — Fetterman struggled to engage even in small talk. Much to her credit, Burns hasn’t backed down in the face of her critics and is standing by her assessment of her experience with Fetterman.
Unfortunately for Burns, the fact that she’s not backing down will only continue to fuel the media’s backlash against her and their determination to sweep genuinely concerning issues under the rug in order to sweep Fetterman into office. Check out what BuzzFeed’s got on offer in defense of Fetterman:
Spoke to disability advocates about that Fetterman interview. They’re not happy. https://t.co/XE8wBq2LNN
— David Mack (@davidmackau) October 12, 2022
Uh, congratulations?
He was told in 2017 that he had a-fib and a weak heart. For 5 years, he ignored his doctor's advice and didn't take the medication he was prescribed, even after collapsing at a podium in 2019. He hid all of this from the public, until his ignorance caused a debilitating stroke. https://t.co/eH3riQFvyZ
— Sean The Producer (@SeanTheProducr) October 13, 2022
A debilitating stroke that, for some reason, the mainstream media want the public to believe is actually an asset and a reason to elect Fetterman to the U.S. Senate.
And why the hell is BuzzFeed talking to “disability advocates”?
So he's disabled? https://t.co/5I10dUbDXl
— jimtreacher.substack.com (@jtLOL) October 13, 2022
If calling him “disabled” allows outlets like BuzzFeed to totally dismiss legitimate concerns about his physical, mental, and cognitive health, then you bet he’s disabled.
Fetterman is fine, and noticing that he's not fine is "ableism" https://t.co/5I10dUbDXl
— jimtreacher.substack.com (@jtLOL) October 13, 2022
No, seriously. That’s what BuzzFeed’s going with.
Here’s how the piece concludes:
Advocates say requiring more health information from people with disabilities — and then placing more media scrutiny upon them — leads to unfair stigma that could have a chilling effect on which candidates choose to run for office.
“When we see persistent barriers in place for disabled candidates to run for office — whether that is ableism from an opposing campaign, ableism in news coverage, policy barriers that are in place — it reduces the diversity of the overall candidate base for both parties,” [Maria Town, the president and CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities] said. “And it also, in this specific instance, I think sends a really terrible and hostile message to anyone who might be on the fence about asking for accommodations.
“What is so harmful about seeing what’s happened to John Fetterman is that he’s actually experiencing what many disabled people experience every day when we ask for accommodations,” Town added, “which is an instant doubt of our competence and a questioning about whether, you know, ‘Can you really do this job?’”
We feel like we’ve taken crazy pills. BuzzFeed is hot garbage, but there’s no way they don’t know that they’re being totally intellectually dishonest with this Fetterman-vs.-ableism stuff.
https://twitter.com/ellencarmichael/status/1580566322538127366
https://twitter.com/ellencarmichael/status/1580566846322790400
https://twitter.com/ellencarmichael/status/1580567505331900416
https://twitter.com/ellencarmichael/status/1580567870769012738
https://twitter.com/ellencarmichael/status/1580568146901356545
https://twitter.com/ellencarmichael/status/1580568650045853696
https://twitter.com/ellencarmichael/status/1580569067219349505
They really do want to have it both ways. It’s OK to call John Fetterman disabled until it causes people to question his physical and mental and cognitive fitness, in which case it’s now naked ableism. Do they seriously think we can’t see what they’re doing?
Oh, and then — and then — BuzzFeed actually has the nerve to put out there the possibility that pointing out John Fetterman’s long list of health problems will lead to an uptick in violence against disabled people!
https://twitter.com/ZaidJilani/status/1580566447637803009
We’ve reached “this interview is violence” phase pic.twitter.com/Tx9khKXjrB
— Mick Xander (@MickXander22) October 13, 2022
Buzzfeed wrote that the Fetterman interview will cause people to go out and commit violence against disabled people. https://t.co/lwqj2Tby6y
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) October 13, 2022
How … what in the … ?
It’s true, just this week I saw people online attacking the disabled governor of Texas https://t.co/K1TNKqMF67
— Anang Mittal अनंग मित्तल (@anangbhai) October 13, 2022
Oh, snap.
For real, though, the media’s mad rush to defend John Fetterman’s honor has officially crossed from pathetic into straight-up insane.
You cannot comment or question on Fetterman's mental acuity because it will cause violence. So that's where they are at.
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) October 13, 2022
That’s where they’re at.
https://twitter.com/ZaidJilani/status/1580567608969285633
Eh, it’s not that surprising if you’ve been paying attention to BuzzFeed or journalism in general over the past several years.
https://twitter.com/ZaidJilani/status/1580568163477225472
https://twitter.com/ZaidJilani/status/1580568301184634880
Sorry, but it looks like, with precious few exceptions, those days are over.
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