NBC’s Burns: Fetterman’s Debate Performance Was ‘Very Similar’ to My Conversation with Him, It Wasn’t a Surprise to Me

On Wednesday’s broadcast of NBC’s “MTP Now,” NBC News Correspondent Dasha Burns said that after her interview with U.S. Senate candidate and Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D), “there were no big surprises” in Fetterman’s debate performance because “It was very similar to the conversation that we had.”

Burns stated, “We, of course, had been in a room with him before. We had used that closed captioning system, and so, for us watching the debate, there were no big surprises. It was very similar to the conversation that we had. And of course, we posted the entire interview online as well after we conducted that so folks can go back and look. He is clearly still struggling with some of those issues. The campaign, beforehand…did play down some of the expectations, saying, look, this isn’t his format, the closed captioning may play a role in how long it takes him to get those answers out. … But Chuck, it was interesting, the contrast from the campaign the night before the debate versus the night of the debate, right after, in that spin room. The campaign came in, a spokesperson saying that they were thrilled with Fetterman’s performance, saying that he won in countless exchanges with Oz. They were very enthusiastic about how Fetterman did, especially comparing it to his performance in the primary. But stepping back and looking at some of the reactions and the aftermath today, I don’t know that that’s how much of the audience read it, especially those that were sort of seeing him for the first time in this context.”

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