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Republican Senate candidate Mehmet Oz says John Fetterman, the Democratic nominee and current lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania, is either scared to present his views to voters, or is unable to debate because of poor health following his stroke.
“John Fetterman has been ducking, dodging these debates, which is insulting to the voters of Pennsylvania,” Oz told Fox News Digital. “And he has to own the reasons for his desire to avoid a debate with me. Either he’s healthy, which he says he is, and doesn’t want to answer for his radical positions in past statements, or he’s lying about his health. Either way, the voters of Pennsylvania deserve an answer, and I think they deserve that answer pretty quickly, since the absentee ballots will be mailed out in the next two to three weeks,” Oz added.
Fetterman said late last week he would not attend a previously agreed upon debate during the first week of September, prompting Oz and his campaign to go on the offensive in questioning the Democrat’s health. Fetterman suffered a stroke in mid-May, and his campaign announced he had gone into surgery on May 17 — the day voters selected him as the Democratic nominee for Senate in Pennsylvania.
Fetterman saw more criticism Tuesday from more than just his GOP rival. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa. — whose seat Fetterman and Oz are vying to fill — said at a press conference that being able to debate is a prerequisite for serving in the Senate. Additionally, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette editorial board also raised concerns about Fetterman’s health after he dropped out of the debate.
PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE EDITORIAL BOARD QUESTIONS FETTERMAN’S HEALTH, ABILITY TO SERVE AFTER STROKE
Mehmet Oz and John Fetterman (Hannah Beier/Bloomberg | Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
“It is up to John Fetterman to listen to what Pat Toomey saying, which is in order to serve in the United States Senate, you have to be able to debate,” Oz told Fox. “Now, I’ve been waiting for some response from John Fetterman camp for quite a while, and we agreed to five debates, organized by media companies here in Pennsylvania — they’re not my debates — and we’ve agreed to these five because we believe they will be good for the voters of Pennsylvania.”
Fetterman’s campaign denied the attacks on his health, pointing out that the lieutenant governor had been active in Labor Day marches.
“Just yesterday, John marched for over 2 hours in the rain in Pittsburgh’s Labor Day parade, and spoke at 2 other events afterwards.,” Fetterman spokesperson Joe Calvello said. “Anyone who’s seen John speak knows that while he’s still recovering, he’s more capable of fighting for PA than Dr. Oz will ever be. And anyone who’s seen Dr. Oz speak knows he’s a complete fraud.”
Calvello added that the concerns about health were more about “mocking” Fetterman for his stroke recovery. “We have said repeatedly that we are open to debating Oz, and we’re talking with networks, but let’s be clear: This isn’t about debates. This is about mocking John for having a stroke because they’ve got nothing else, and because they don’t want to talk about the fact that Oz wants to ban abortions and believes all abortion is ‘murder,’” Calvello said.
Oz has caught some criticism for how his campaign has attacked Fetterman’s health in recent weeks. After Oz released a video where he complained about the price of vegetables for a “crudite” platter, Fetterman made fun of the former TV host of “The Dr. Oz Show” for being out of touch, since most Pennsylvanians, according to Fetterman, would call it a veggie tray.
Oz’s campaign communications director Rachel Tripp hit back, stating that if Fetterman “had ever eaten a vegetable in his life, then maybe he would not have had a major stroke and would not be in the position of having to lie about it constantly.”
PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE EDITORIAL BOARD QUESTIONS FETTERMAN’S HEALTH, ABILITY TO SERVE AFTER STROKE
Fetterman announced last week that he would not be participating in the first of five scheduled debates leading up to the November midterm elections, hinting that his recovery from the stroke was part of the reason.
“My recovery may be a joke to Dr. Oz and his team, but it’s real for me,” Fetterman said in a statement. “I will not be participating in a debate the first week of September, but look 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 has avoided stating outright that Fetterman is unfit to serve as senator due to his stroke, but said that voters also deserve to hear lieutenant governor defend positions in a public forum.
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However, the Republican noted that Fetterman does declare his positions online, but when it comes to making his case to voters, he has been “silent for alost four months now, not answering questions on the campaign trail, not answering questions from media, not answering my questions, which should be addressed on the debate floor.”
“Pennsylvania voters deserve better,” Oz said.