Oz Mocks Fetterman’s Health in Spat Over Pennsylvania Debate
(Bloomberg) -- John Fetterman, the Democratic Senate candidate in Pennsylvania, said Tuesday he won’t debate rival Mehmet Oz next week, saying he’s still recovering from a stroke and calling Oz’s attempts to challenge him to a face-to-face encounter a “farce.”
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The debate over debates is a well-worn ritual of US politics, with the trailing candidate usually seeking more debates in hopes of forcing an opponent into a poor performance. Fetterman, the state’s lieutenant governor, leads Oz by 9 percentage points in the FiveThirtyEight average of polls despite being largely absent from the campaign trail following pacemaker surgery in May.
But the Pennsylvania episode escalated Tuesday as a spokeswoman for Oz, a cardiologist famous for his daytime television show, called Fetterman a “liar, a liberal, and a coward” and agreed to a list of mock concessions, including a promise “not to intentionally hurt John’s feelings” and to pay for additional medical staff on standby.
“Today’s statement from Dr. Oz’s team made it abundantly clear that they think it is funny to mock a stroke survivor,” Fetterman responded. “My recovery may be a joke to Dr. Oz and his team, but it’s real for me.”
He said that “as I recover from this stroke and improve my auditory processing and speech, I look forward to continuing to meet with the people of Pennsylvania.”
He did not say whether he might take part in other debates, but added that he looked forward “to having a productive discussion about how we can move forward and have a real conversation on this once Dr. Oz and his team are ready to take this seriously.”
Oz spokeswoman Brittany Yanick called that response “whiney” and observed that Fetterman would not say when he’ll be ready to debate if not the KDKA-TV event in Pittsburgh on Sept 6.
The election to replace Republican Senator Pat Toomey, who is retiring, could well decide which party controls the US Senate.
The back-and-forth came as Fetterman also skipped an appearance with President Joe Biden in Wilkes-Barre on Tuesday. Biden praised the candidate during that event saying, “Fetterman is a hell of a guy. A powerful voice for working people. And he’s going to make a great United States senator.”
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