The Washington Examiner‘s Salena Zito joined America’s Newsroom on Fox News Wednesday to talk about Tuesday’s Senate debate in Pennsylvania, sharing sentiments from voters who say John Fetterman’s condition makes them nervous.
Zito pointed out that voters don’t always watch politics with the same intensity and scrutiny as reporters do. As a result, she said she was surprised that some didn’t know of his health battle until they saw him struggle on the stage.
Fetterman took long pauses between answers and had difficulty with some phrases.
KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HIGHLY ANTICIPATED DEBATE BETWEEN FETTERMAN AND OZ
“What was most interesting to me is watching voters that had not really understood the condition of the lieutenant governor,” she told host Dana Perino.
“It was very revealing. And this one gentleman said to me, ‘This is why I’m glad I don’t early vote. Because you don’t really realize all the things that can come out before Election Day,’” she added.
Even as he stumbled over his words on Tuesday, Fetterman’s campaign team praised his performance, noting he did “remarkably well” despite technical and physical difficulties.
His unique challenges getting through the debate overshadowed what might have been deficiencies by Republican Mehmet Oz, who did not let Fetterman’s condition stop him from leveling incisive attacks, just as he might on any other opponent.
While Democrats didn’t go as far as to say they would vote for Oz instead, they did say they might sit on their hands in this Senate race, Zito said.
But, as the campaign trail heats up and several “big hitters” head to Pennsylvania to stump on Fetterman’s behalf, including former President Barack Obama and President Joe Biden, critics have pushed that his health concerns have made Democrats look bad.
Every Democrat on every ballot is mad at John Fetterman tonight for hurting them all. Sometimes the Biden Basement strategy is not just the best way, it’s the only way. #PASenateDebate
— Hugh Hewitt (@hughhewitt) October 26, 2022
When pressed on whether voters have shared that same sentiment with Zito, she said, “Yes, absolutely.”
“I talked to Democrats last night, and they said, ‘Look, if this is sort of what the press has avoided showing us for a large part and what Democrats have hidden, this makes me lose trust in the rest of these candidates,’” she told host Bill Hemmer.
Zito added that what some may see as a downplay of Fetterman’s recovery is likely to affect a lot of congressional races, especially the “two to three that are right on the cusp of going Republican.”
“That may take them over the top and may take others as well with it,” she added.
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Fetterman’s condition and how he’s handled the situation could be a marker not just for Pennsylvania but across the country, as too many people have pretended his health concerns weren’t reality, she said.
This will likely lead to mistrust in the system, and in Democrats in particular, Zito added.
Recent polling from YouGov/CBS shows Fetterman with a narrow lead over Oz, 51% to 49%, in a race that is likely to determine which party takes control of the Senate in November.
