John Fetterman and Dr. Oz square off: Democratic Senate hopeful says he faces ‘awkward pauses’ and errors as he recovers from stroke – and calls his Republican opponent’s attacks ‘mean’
- Pennsylvania Senate hopefuls Democrat John Fetterman and Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz, face each other in their only debate on Tuesday evening in Harrisburg
- Ahead of Tuesday’s debate, Fetterman’s campaign dampened expectations in a memo due to his use of subtitles
- Fetterman uses the technology because of his auditory processing problem, a holdover from the stroke he suffered in May
Pennsylvania Senate hopefuls John Fetterman, the state’s Democratic Lieutenant Governor, and Republican, television personality Dr. Mehmet Oz, opened their only debate in Harrisburg on Tuesday evening.
Ahead of Tuesday’s debate, Fetterman’s campaign dampened expectations in a memo, noting that there could be “delays and errors” and “awkward pauses” due to the Democrat’s use of closed captions.
Fetterman uses the technology, with the questions being hand-transcribed by the debate staff due to his auditory processing problem, a holdover from the stroke he suffered in May.
Pennsylvania Senate hopefuls John Fetterman (left), the state’s Democratic Lieutenant Governor, and Republican, television personality Dr. Mehmet Oz (right), opened their only debate in Harrisburg on Tuesday evening
The memo also called out the Oz campaign for attacks on Fetterman’s health, largely through the Republican’s campaign staff.
“Oz will try to play the nice doctor on Tuesday night, but his campaign’s attacks on John’s health have been consistently mean and cruel,” the memo reads. “We will not forget that this is the same ‘Doctor’ whose campaign poked fun at John’s use of closed captioning technology for needing toilet breaks and medical staff nearby and he would not have had a stroke if he had eaten vegetables. ”
Oz staffers made the comments when a debate was being heard in September, but it never happened, as Fetterman backed down and said the Republican’s team mocked a stroke victim.
The Harrisburg stage will be the only time the two candidates will meet — as absentee ballots have already been mailed to Pennsylvania voters.
Fetterman has consistently had a small advantage in polls that persists, although several recent polls show it’s narrow.
On Tuesday, a CBS News poll put the two candidates two points apart.
According to the poll, 51 percent of Keystone State’s likely voters support Fetterman, compared to 49 percent who support Oz.
The lead of the democratic populist is well within the margin of error of 4.4 percent.
Pennsylvania voters are excited to see how the match will play out, CBS News poll shows.
More than 60 percent of respondents indicated that they would like to turn on at least “something”.
The poll was conducted from October 21-24, up until the night before the debate.
In addition to his auditory processing disorder, the stroke has also caused Fetterman to occasionally stumble over his words and pause more frequently when speaking.
A new poll conducted up to the day before the first and only debate by John Fetterman and Mehmet Oz shows the Democrat’s lead over his Trump-backed rival is just 2 percent
But voters tonight aren’t interested in hearing about it, according to the poll.
They also have no interest in further attacks on Oz’s Pennsylvania residence versus his family home in New Jersey, which was a cornerstone of Fetterman’s campaign.
54 percent of registered voters told CBS they don’t seek discussions about Fetterman’s health.
Likewise, 57 percent said they no longer need to hear about where Oz lives.
But more than nine in 10 Pennsylvanians surveyed said they would like candidates to speak about the economy and their views on crime and the police.
That could be in Oz’s favor tonight — Americans’ worries about the economy and rising inflation have been a big campaign issue for Republicans across the country, as rising opinion polls show voters trust Republicans slightly more than Democrats, both in relation to the economy as well as to crime.