After weeks of back-and-forth, Pennsylvania Lt. Governor and Democratic Senate contender John Fetterman consented to debate his Republican opponent, celebrity cardiologist Dr. Mehmet Oz.
On Tuesday, October 25 at 8:00 p.m., the two candidates will engage in a live one-hour debate that is expected to be the final scheduled face-to-face meeting before Election Day on November 8. The debate will be aired on Nexstar stations across the Commonwealth, according to a press statement from the firm, which estimates nine million spectators.
Fetterman, who stammered and lost his train of thought in many public appearances after having a stroke days before the Democratic primary, had pledged to confront Oz on a “big television station” in Pennsylvania “sometime in the middle to end of October.” His campaign was exploring employing a closed captioned monitor so he doesn’t miss information, which Oz was open to as long as the accommodations was made known to spectators.
“I have every capacity to discuss and argue all of these topics,” Fetterman said in early September. “And that’s basically the only residual issue from the stroke — that part of my hearing was little affected, but it’s getting better and better and better each day.”
Oz had constantly questioned his opponent about the debate negotiation delays.
Last month, the television veteran wrote on social media, “We keep hearing that the Fetterman campaign is in debate discussions with networks. Which networks? He won’t say anything. What are the terms? He won’t say anything. John Fetterman has a lot of people talking for him, but he says very little himself.”
The discussion looms as Oz narrows the polling gap between himself and Fetterman. According to a new Emerson College and The Hill poll, the former candidate has 43% of the vote, while the latter has 45% – a difference inside the margin of error that puts Oz in a statistical tie after months of trailing his challenger.
According to NBC News reporter Dasha Burns, Fetterman struggled to grasp their conversation before a recent sit-down interview in which he answered to vocal questions after seeing subtitles on a computer screen. Even with the apparatus, Fetterman stammered and had difficulty finding words at times.
Fetterman, the former mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania, a decaying steel town near Pittsburgh, was approved to run for Senate by a doctor last summer. When asked by NBC News why he hasn’t published his medical documents publicly, Fetterman stated that the stroke had no effect on his memory or cognitive ability.
“I feel like we’ve been fairly honest in a variety of ways,” Fetterman said. “When our doctor has already written a note stating that I am fit to serve and run.” And then, I believe there’s nothing more transparent than stepping up on a platform in front of 3,000 people, giving a speech without the need for a teleprompter, just just being — and putting everything and yourself out there in that way. That, I believe, is as transparent as anyone in Pennsylvania can really see.”
Despite this, Fetterman claims that his illness is merely temporary.
“It’s not easy to recover from a stroke in public,” he stated on Wednesday. “But I’ll be much better in January — and Dr. Oz will still be a fake.”
His medical records should be released…the guy is not ready for the trials of congress and if his record is anything go on, he’ll be a slacker and his policies are destructive at best.
The fact that he’s been ahead tells you how f***ing stupid PA voters are!
We don’t need another sicko in office. Wacko Biden is enough. Pray for OZ.
Fetterman may have been a “big fish” in a small pond (Braddock) but he is a “minnow” else where and needs to be back in his small pond and let the more knowledgeable and able work for the good of all the people to the best of their ability. This country is going downhill in a rapid way due to candidates like Fetterman.