WASHINGTON — John Fetterman took the campaign-branded, Pittsburgh Steelers-themed black and yellow “terrible towel” to his head, wiped the sweat and felt some relief.

It was August 2022, his first public appearance since his stroke four days before the May primary, and he felt it had gone well — even if the speech, in his newly diminished cadence, had lasted only a few minutes.

Then the attacks started flying.

The barbs from Fox News and his Republican opponent, the television personality Mehmet Oz, were all-consuming. They were taking their toll in a way that would linger for the Democratic nominee throughout the rest of his winning campaign and his eventual hospitalization for depression during his first few months in the U.S. Senate.

He passed an Aug. 15 deadline that he privately t

See Full Page