At the US midterms in November, John Fetterman wins a majority for the Democrats in swing state Pennsylvania. The left-wing local politician with a penchant for tattoos and hoodies moves spectacularly into the US Senate. In the next few weeks, however, his work there has to be paused: he is being treated in the hospital for depression.
Newly elected Democratic US Senator John Fetterman is being treated in a hospital for clinical depression. The politician from the state of Pennsylvania was admitted to the Walter Reed Military Hospital in a suburb of the capital Washington on Wednesday evening, said his chief of staff Adam Jentleson.
"John has struggled with depression throughout his life, but it has only become severe in the past few weeks," Jentleson said. Fetterman was examined by the US Congress doctor, who then recommended a hospital stay. "John has consented and is being treated on a voluntary basis," his chief of staff said. The doctors at the Walter Reed Military Hospital, where US presidents are also treated, have assured that Fetterman "will be well again soon".
The 53-year-old Fetterman - a formerly left-wing local politician - won a crucially important victory for the Democrats in November's midterm elections and caused an international stir. The more than two meter tall politician - with a bald head, tattoos and a preference for hoodies and shorts in US politics, a highly unusual phenomenon - narrowly defeated the Republican candidate Mehmet Oz, who was supported by Donald Trump, in Swing State Pennsylvania . Thanks to this success, President Joe Biden's Democrats were able to increase their wafer-thin Senate majority by one seat.
Fetterman's victory was also remarkable because he had been severely weakened by a stroke in May during the election campaign. Among other things, the 53-year-old had great problems expressing himself in longer sentences in a television duel against Oz. Last week Fetterman was then examined in a hospital because of dizziness. However, doctors concluded that the senator had not suffered a new stroke.
