Supporters of Pennsylvania Senate candidate John Fetterman appeared to double-down on their support following Tuesday's debate referring to critics as "ableist" and "bullies."
Following the Senate candidate's stroke in May, supporters seemed to embrace what appeared to be a rocky performance by Fetterman. Throughout the debate with Republican Senate challenger Dr. Mehmet Oz, Fetterman appeared to struggle stringing complete thoughts and sentences together. At one point, the Senate candidate appeared unable to decipher his own thoughts regarding his opinion on fracking.
Co-founder of the Democratic Coalition Jon Cooper said, "DAMN. Even after a stroke, Fetterman is DESTROYING Dr. Oz."
Cooper continued his praise of Fetterman referring to the Senate candidate's critics as "a--holes"
"Every time MAGA heard Fetterman stumble over a word tonight, they mocked him. Every time I heard him stumble, I felt inspired by his selflessness and bravery. That's the difference between a liberal and an a--hole."
"When your side is so bad you have to rely on ableism to win," said MSNBC columnist Liz Plank in response to Townhall reporter Julio Rosas.
Plank furthered her claim of ableism, saying Oz "gave a masterclass" on bullying people with disabilities.
"The media coverage of John Fetterman is so extraordinarily ableist and very evidently every editor involved cares more about the sensational power of ableism than the risk to democracy and civil rights of electing Oz. Every single person involved should be ashamed," said one Twitter user critical of media outlets, noting Fetterman's struggle performing in Tuesday's debate.
The user continued: "Like who cares if he wasn’t the most eloquent? He’s clear about what he stands for. Oz and his ilk are a catastrophe waiting to happen. The press are goading catastrophe on."
"Gonna say the quiet part out loud. The media treatment of Fetterman, the constant questioning of his ability to serve, is literally an intensification of what every disabled person has to endure when we insist on living beyond the limits of ableism," said another user who noted Fetterman's coverage by media outlets.
Glenn Greenwald, formerly of The Intercept, rejected criticism of "ableism," saying, "Any decent human being - by definition - feels great empathy for Fetterman. It's likely we and/or our loved ones will be disabled by illness at some point. But this attempt to invent a new rule that it's 'ableist' to discuss the cognitive abilities of candidates is just pathetic."
During a Wednesday episode of The View, co-host Joy Behar noted political ads criticizing Fetterman's cognitive ability and suggested Oz was violating the Hippocratic Oath: "What kind of a doctor is behind that, aren’t they supposed to do no harm?”
"It’s so unsympathetic to the guy, you know?" Behar continued.
"It was really strange to me that [Oz] chose to bully a stroke victim," cohost Sunny Hostin added. "Like, he obviously was bullying him."
"It is not bullying to engage w a candidate for Senate in the forum & within the bounds & rules that the candidate agreed upon, which offered accommodations for his condition, just as it isn't bigotry for a reporter to report on affects of the condition when she encounters him," said CNN contributor Mary Katharine Ham regarding Hostin's claim.
"I think some of our most consequential and important leaders in history have had disabilities," said co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin. "So as a society, we should that should not preclude somebody from holding elected office."
