A neurologist is sharing her thoughts on Pennsylvania Democratic senatorial candidate John Fetterman‘s cognitive health following what some are calling a rough debate performance.
Dr. Huma Sheikh, a neurologist specializing in migraines and strokes, spoke with NewsNation host Chris Cuomo about the debate.
“From watching the debate, I do think he has a type of aphasia, specifically a Broca’s aphasia, which essentially means there’s been some type of insult or damage to the part of the brain where language is produced but also language is understood,” Sheikh said.
She suggested Fetterman’s major issue is his “production of language.”
Sheikh argued, while answering questions during the debate, Fetterman repeated himself a lot.
She continued, “It’s hard to tell from this how much his comprehension is impaired, because that requires different testing.”
The neurologist went on to say she believed “there was a lot of difficulty with being quick on his feet.”
When asked if a person could recover from this, Sheikh replied, “Essentially what we know is that in the first three to six months is where you see the most improvement.”
She explained, “There can be some improvement over the next year, but I think he’s about six months out now; this happened in May. So I think if he was doing therapy right after his stroke, this is probably where he has improved to the most.”
Watch Sheikh’s comments below:
Additionally, Sheikh played out the scenario of being a voter in Pennsylvania and whether she would be concerned about voting for Fetterman.
“I think from seeing what I saw, the fact that he has difficulty in expressing his thoughts, it would make me question: Is that an isolated issue or is there more to it?” she said.
Sheikh continued, “It would make me want to gather some more information and have him talk more about what are the issues, be more transparent.”
The New York Times noted Fetterman suffered from a stroke ahead of the May primary election.
Several sources questioned why Fetterman agreed to the debate given he did not appear ready.
“Why the hell did Fetterman agree to this?” one Democratic lawmaker and supporter of the candidate told Axios.
They added, “This will obviously raise more questions than answers about John’s health.”
Another Pennsylvania Democratic official told the outlet, “Everyone is nervous. I’ve traveled everywhere. Fetterman is a deep concern. And this debate will only increase it.”
According to FiveThirtyEight, Fetterman only holds a 2.3 point lead over his opponent Dr. Mehmet Oz.