John Fetterman's wife Gisele calls swimming in America 'RACIST' after his debate appearance sparked concern
PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA: The wife of Pennsylvania's lieutenant governor, John Fetterman, has confessed she thinks swimming has a "very racist history" and has turned the home's pool into a public facility to teach water safety to underprivileged kids. Gisele Barretto Fetterman, the wife of Democratic Pennsylvania Senate candidate John Fetterman, spoke about her role as the state's second lady on the iGen politics podcast on Thursday, October 27.
Gisele made her appearance only a few days after her husband participated in a television debate with Republican contender Dr Oz and repeatedly stumbled over his words, a problem that was generally attributed to a stroke he had five months prior. She stated at the beginning of the podcast that although her family declined the lieutenant governor's mansion, they still wanted to utilize the pool because "historically, swimming in America is very racist."
READ MORE
Daily Mail reported that Gisele began the podcast by talking about her position as the Second Lady of Pennsylvania, a designation reserved for the wife of the state's lieutenant governor. She explains to the audience that for the second time in Pennsylvania's history, her family decided against accepting the offer to reside in the taxpayer-funded home in Lebanon County. She said, "While we did not want the mansion, that mansion came with a pool and the pool I wanted. The dream was to open this pool and make it a public pool, turn it into the people's pool and ensure that young people across Pennsylvania could learn how to swim and learn water safety and kind of work to right some of the wrongs."
Gisele also appeared to make a reference to the fact that members of minority racial or ethnic groups are more prone to drown while swimming. She stated, "Historically, swimming in America is very racist and usually when you look at drowning statistics it usually affects children of color because of lack of access," as cited by Daily Mail.
The discussion continues with Fetterman's wife criticizing the media's reaction to her husband's need to read from a script during his TV debate against Oz on Tuesday. I don't know if it's a lack of exposure or a lack of education. She said, "I think the media certainly needs more training. You know they talk about their investments in diversity but they really missed the mark."
She continued by drawing a comparison between the requirement for closed captions and high brightness on mobile. Gisele stated, "Most people use accommodations on some level, whether that's how bright you keep your phone when you're reading. These are all accommodations." Referring to the children's program hosted by Pennsylvania native Fred Rogers, she said, "Maybe closed captioning is a new thing to them but I've been using closed captioning my whole life, I learned how to speak English watching Mister Rogers and reading closed captions."
Recently, Fetterman revealed how he survived a stroke which was almost a near-death experience, according to The Guardian. On May 13, 2022, he suffered a stroke and underwent pacemaker surgery on May 17. He said, “Like so many others, and so many men, in particular, I avoided going to the doctor, even though I knew I didn’t feel well.” He added. "As a result, I almost died. I want to encourage others not to make the same mistake."
According to reports, Gisele and Frettman met in 2007. They began to better know each other as she wrote him a letter about the town and the steel industry while he was the mayor of Braddock. The duo tied the knot in 2008 and welcomed three children named Karl, Grace, and August together.