Joan Walsh
Role at the time: Author and national affairs correspondent for The Nation
Condemned
Statement summary
Walsh criticized Fetterman's convention appearance and questioned whether Democrats could rely on him as their deciding Senate vote.
“I think Democrats have to make sure they win a 52nd vote, given his odd behavior of late.”
Open source (opens in a new tab)Joan Walsh: The Embarrassment of Trump's Midterm ConventionFinal Fetterman paragraphs, especially the sentence about Democrats needing a 52nd vote
Signed opinion, not an institutional position of The Nation. Walsh questions Fetterman's political reliability. Separate medical speculation in the essay is not adopted here. Date verified; exact publication time unverified.
Why we used this label
Her recommendation that Democrats secure an additional vote is explicit criticism of Fetterman's conduct and reliability, not an institutional position of the publication.