Pennsylvania Republicans are heading for an unforced error if they press their current demands regarding health and proof-of-life updates from Senator John Fetterman and his office.

I get it. The election of Fetterman to the Senate was an unmitigated disaster on multiple levels. We can definitely fault his family and his campaign for not pulling him from the race after the stroke, and then putting him through everything that they have up to this point, with the aid and comfort of a complicit media and Democrat party apparatus. However, Pennsylvania Republicans bear fault for not telling Donald Trump to take a hike and letting him endorse Mehmet Oz as “his” candidate. We warned you that this would not end well, and the only reason Oz didn’t lose in a blowout is because some voters could tell that Fetterman was quite clearly not able to serve. Unfortunately, not enough of them did, but Pennsylvania Republicans picked the candidate with the best name recognition and the greatest problems.

That being said, demanding that John Fetterman appear on camera while in the midst of inpatient mental health care is both in poor taste and politically risky.

Fetterman has been hospitalized for nearly two weeks due to reported clinical depression; little is known about his status as an inpatient at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, though his staff said on Monday that he is “on a path to recovery.”

The Washington County, Pa., Republican Party, meanwhile, said in a Facebook post on Monday that it “refuses to take assurances from the Office of the Senator or Democrat operatives that Fetterman is able to carry out his duties as Senator.”

“As such, we call upon Senator Fetterman to appear on camera to show us he is alive and well,” the post continued, “and if he is unable to do so, we call upon our elected Representatives in Washington, Senator Casey and Congressman Reschenthaler, to intervene immediately.”

“Ultimately, if Fetterman is unable or unwilling to carry out his duties as a United States Senator, then we ask for his resignation and call for a special election to be held this year,” the group said.”

It should be obvious as to why demanding a camera appearance from Fetterman is a bad idea, but let me spell it out for these Pennsylvania Republicans. He. Is. Hospitalized. For. Mental. Health. Problems. This is not like a surgery, or a broken bone, or anything with a timetable for recovery. Frankly, there is no timetable for recovery for a stroke, either – there are only windows of time where recovery is more likely. We have seen United States Senators in the aftermath of strokes before. As some will recall, former Senator Mark Kirk of Illinois suffered a major stroke in 2012, and was not able to return to the Senate for a full year. Now, the stroke was likely a major reason why he was defeated in his re-election bid, but since Republicans were in the Senate minority at the time of his stroke, there was less media interest in getting him to resign. Plus, if he had resigned, then the governor at the time would have appointed a Democrat, flipping the seat.

In a slightly more contemporary example, Senator Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico was able to return to the Senate only a month after his stroke last year.

Obviously, no two people and no two strokes are alike. But the political climate of the Senate was on a razor’s edge when Luján had his stroke, because the Senate was split 50-50 (though if he had resigned, the governor, a Democrat, would have simply appointed another Democrat). In the case of John Fetterman, he could resign (again, Gisele could insist on this NOW) and the current Democrat governor of Pennsylvania would appoint another Democrat. The problem is that Pennsylvania election law then would hold a special election this fall. Whomever Governor Shapiro appointed would not just get to serve out Fetterman’s term. Pennsylvania Democrats are worried about that possibility, and it is that possibility that Pennsylvania Republicans are referencing in their statement. It is a huge political risk for them to demand a resignation now.

Gisele’s vacationing aside (which is truthfully a VERY bad look for her), it is incredibly gross to demand an on-camera appearance from someone who is hospitalized for mental health. Yes, the entire Fetterman campaign and Senate career so far has been a disaster zone. But it is the disaster zone that the voters of Pennsylvania picked. Fetterman has only been in the Senate for a couple of months, and there doesn’t seem to be any appetite among the voters for a resignation or special election yet. It is politically smarter for Pennsylvania Republicans to shut up and let Fetterman’s recovery and absences speak for themselves, instead of running into the spotlight and making demands. Those demands make the Pennsylvania GOP look petty and stupid. It gives Team Fetterman ammunition to use against them. There are going to be enough questions as time goes on about Fetterman’s health and recovery. There is zero point in bringing all of that up NOW.

The Fetterman camp has no problem looking tacky and abusive all on their own. Pennsylvania Republicans should not be handing them the chance to play an additional sympathy card.

Featured image: Senator John Fetterman, official Senate portrait, cropped, public domain