Fetterman to POLITICO: I will debate Oz
Fetterman to POLITICO: I will debate Oz
The Pennsylvania Democrat said his camp is discussing accommodations for his hearing problems, but “we’re going to be able to work that out.”
Democratic Pa. Lt. Gov. John Fetterman speaks at a United Steelworkers of America Local Union 2227 event in West Mifflin, Pa., Monday, Sept. 5, 2022. | Susan Walsh/AP Photo
09/07/2022 04:25 PM EDT
Updated: 09/07/2022 04:44 PM EDT
PHILADELPHIA — John Fetterman said he is committing to attending one debate with his Republican opponent, Mehmet Oz, in the closely watched battle for the Senate in Pennsylvania, but his campaign is still discussing accommodations for his auditory processing problems.
The announcement comes as Oz has ramped up pressure on Fetterman, who suffered a stroke in May, to agree to a series of debates beginning in early September.
“We’re absolutely going to debate Dr. Oz, and that was really always our intent to do that,” Fetterman told POLITICO in an exclusive interview. “It was just simply only ever been about addressing some of the lingering issues of the stroke, the auditory processing, and we’re going to be able to work that out.”
Fetterman declined to specify which debate he will attend or provide an exact date for it, though he said it will “be sometime in the middle to end of October” on a “major television station” in the state.
He also said that the campaign is looking at the possibility of using a closed captioning monitor for the event so that he does not miss any words as he continues to recover from his stroke.
Dr. Oz questions Fetterman’s health on Laura Ingraham programShare
https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.528.0_en.html#goog_2014344354Play Video
“We’re just exploring that,” he said of the closed captioning. “I have every ability to talk about all of these issues and have a full debate. And that’s really just the one lingering issue of the stroke — that some of my hearing was damaged a little bit, but it’s continuing to get better and better and better every day.”
Oz, who is trailing Fetterman in the polls, has for weeks sought to portray the Democrat as skipping debates either because he can’t defend his record or is too ill to go onstage. The attacks have sometimes been ugly, with one Oz aide saying that Fetterman might not have suffered a stroke if he’d ever eaten vegetables, a statement that the celebrity doctor later distanced himself from.
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