Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, the Democratic nominee for the state’s open Senate seat, has agreed to participate in at least one debate against the GOP candidate, Dr. Mehmet Oz, after Republicans ramped up pressure on Fetterman ahead of Election Day.
The Democrat told Politico that he intends to partake in a televised debate ”sometime in the middle to end of October” after refraining from committing to debates in early September as he recovers from a stroke.
DR. OZ DEMANDS FIVE DEBATES AS FETTERMAN SLOWLY RETURNS TO CAMPAIGN TRAIL
“We’re absolutely going to debate Dr. Oz, and that was really always our intent to do that,” he said. “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.”
Oz has repeatedly hammered Fetterman over his reluctance to debate publicly yet attend fundraising and campaign events, with Oz’s campaign looking to draw Fetterman’s ability to serve in the upper chamber due to health reasons into question and accusing him of hiding from his policy positions.
The Oz campaign took aim at Fetterman for not offering details on when and where the debate will take place.
“BIG NEWS! John Fetterman has agreed to debate at a SECRET DEBATE. We don’t know WHERE. We don’t know WHEN. We don’t know HOW. It’s a big SECRET!” Oz communications director Brittany Yanick said in a statement.
“John Fetterman’s campaign is embarrassing themselves. Let’s be clear — Dr. Oz’s campaign won’t agree to a SECRET debate. It has to be a REAL one with REAL journalists asking REAL questions. Sorry John — imaginary debates don’t count!” Yanick added.
The Fetterman campaign released a statement taking aim at Oz following the Politico report.
“There is literally zero precedent in modern times for having U.S. Senate debates in Pennsylvania in early September,” Fetterman said. “That was never going to happen. All of these debates have always occurred in the middle to late October.”
“But let’s be clear this has never really been about debates for Dr. Oz,” he added. “This whole thing has been about Dr. Oz and his team mocking me for having a stroke because they’ve got nothing else.”
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Pennsylvania is seen as a key state that could determine the balance of power in the upper chamber next year.
Recent polling showed Fetterman with a lead over Oz in the race.
