Pennsylvania Senator Insists Fetterman is Up to the Job Under Grilling From MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell: He’s ‘Prepared Right Now’

Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) offered a very rosy assessment that John Fetterman is “prepared” to join him in the U.S. Senate despite his widely-panned debate performance.

Fetterman squared off against Dr. Mehmet Oz on Tuesday for his first debate since the stroke he experienced approximately five months ago. The Pennsylvania lieutenant governor’s showing was marked with flip-flops, plus struggles by Fetterman to answer questions, keep up with the debate, and articulate his points.

While some commended Fetterman for answering Oz’s challenge in the first place, a large assortment of bipartisan debate watchers were left wondering if Fetterman is truly capable of being a senator. When Casey spoke about all of this on Wednesday with Andrea Mitchell, the MSNBC host pointed out Fetterman’s “difficulty” as she asked “How are Pennsylvania swing voters, the undecided voters, going to react and what are they going to take from this debate?”

Casey first answered by deflecting from Fetterman’s condition and talking about his standing within Pennsylvania.

I think what you saw last night was a very clear contrast. I think that’s what debates often do. They provide a measure of clarity, especially late in a race, when it comes to the big issues that people are voting on. A lot of people are worried about how they are going to make ends meet the next couple of years. They are worried about retirement security and health care. They are worried about what Republicans want to do on abortion. They are worried about their families. I think they saw last night, in John Fetterman, a candidate who understands those struggles, who understands what people are up against every day.

Mitchell got the discussion back on track as she asked Casey “Do you think the campaign team made a mistake by letting him debate in this format?” She emphasized this by pointing out those who’ve wondered why Fetterman even agreed to appear in his condition.

Casey answered by leaning hard into the optimism:

There’s always second guessing. I know Democrats sometimes — invent things to worry about at the end of a campaign. That happens in every campaign. I think it was the right decision to have both candidates appear together and to answer questions. I think John did well in that exchange. Especially in the context of what he was facing. Recovering from a stroke. Look, I saw him and talked to him a lot back in the early part of his recovery, in May and June. He has made tremendous progress. Voters understand that because so many of their families have been through health challenges, whether it’s a stroke or a heart problem or something else. They come back, as John said. They get back on their feet, they get knocked down and come back and they do a really difficult job. This idea that the speed of your response is somehow indicative of the way you would do the job is really faulty. I know this job well. John is prepared right now to be an effective senator. With more months of recovery, he is going to be back to where he was. I think he did really well.

Watch above via MSNBC.