The moderators for Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate debate between Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz and Democrat Lt. Gov. John Fetterman immediately announced that the Democrat required closed-captioning “to help him process the questions” as a result of his stroke in May.
Moderator Lisa Sylvester of WXPI informed viewers of the accommodation for Fetterman seconds after she and her counterpart Dennis Owens of WHDM were introduced:
And you may notice these large monsters that are behind us. This is part of our closed captioning system. It was requested by John Fetterman to help him process the questions we are asking him tonight and approved by both campaigns. And both candidates can see the monitors.
“One of the screens will show only the questions being asked tonight; the second screen will caption the questions and responses from Mehmet Oz,” added Owens. “We have live, experienced captions in studio to ensure we are as accurate as possible in what’s sure to be a fast-paced program.”
One condition of the debate agreement between the candidates that Oz requested was that the moderators disclose why they are using closed captioning.
Fetterman suffered the stroke days before the Democrat primary in May and has struggled with his words publicly since. The candidate recently released a letter from his primary care physician Dr. Clifford Chen M.D., who noted that he exhibits symptoms of “Auditory Processing Disorder.”
WebMD notes that those with ADP “have a hard time hearing small sound differences in words.”
“Someone says, ‘Please raise your hand,’ and you hear something like ‘Please haze your plan,’” an example of APD on the website states.
While appearing on MSNBC’s 11th Hour in August, Fetterman told Stephanie Ruhle, “it’s just basic auditory processing, and there is [sic] expecting to have full recovery over the next several months.”