Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman says recovery from stroke helps him understand Americans’ health woes

Pennsylvania Senate candidate John Fetterman said suffering a stroke has helped him to understand the health woes facing ordinary Americans — and vowed to make a full recovery by January if he wins next week’s election.

Communicating far more effectively than he did in a recent debate, Fetterman told CNN’s Don Lemon on Tuesday that his recovery has helped him become a better leader in ways he did not anticipate.

“It’s made me very empathetic … more than I was before,” Fetterman said. “The kind of health care that saved my life is the kind of health care that should be there for every American… to save their lives.”

“I do continue to believe I will get better and better,” Fetterman added.

Fetterman admitted he did not give his strongest performance in last week’s crucial debate with Republican rival Mehmet Oz, but said voters can count on him to be fully fit to serve.

“I always understood it wasn’t going to be easy,” Fetterman said. “It was important to show up, and I did.”

During last week’s hourlong debate, the Keystone State’s lieutenant governor occasionally struggled to give coherent answers.

“It was no secret … I was going to mush some words together,” he explained to Lemon.

Some political analysts predicted the debate could tip the crucial race to Oz, but the actual impact on voters appears to be far more nuanced.

Oz, a polished TV celebrity physician, also blundered when he said abortion decisions should be left up to “a woman, her doctor, and local political leaders.”

The remark underlined the unpopular GOP push for a national abortion ban after the conservative Supreme Court rolled back the right to choose.

Fetterman is clinging to a narrow lead in polls in the contest’s final days, after enjoying a much wider lead earlier in the campaign. The Pennsylvania race is one of a handful of pivotal contests that will likely determine control of the Senate for the next two years.