John Fetterman’s Hometown Paper Questions His ‘Ability to Serve’: If He’s Not ‘Well Enough’ to Debate Dr. Oz, That ‘Raises Serious Concerns’
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The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette questioned Pennsylvania Democratic Senate nominee Lt. Gov. John Fetterman’s (D-PA) “ability to serve” for avoiding a debate with his Republican opponent, TV host Dr. Mehmet Oz.
In a piece which ran Tuesday, the paper’s editorial board noted that Fetterman “has not fully recovered from the serious stroke he suffered in May.” Fetterman’s campaign has said that the stroke was caused by atrial fibrillation, or A-Fib, which is a condition where the heart beats irregularly.
In a statement last week, Fetterman announced he would skip a scheduled debate with Oz, whom he has been leading in virtually all of the polls.
“My recovery may be a joke to Dr. Oz and his team, but it’s real for me,” he said. “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’s campaign has mocked Fetterman’s health.
“If John Fetterman had ever eaten a vegetable in his life, then maybe he wouldn’t have had a major stroke and wouldn’t be in the position of having to lie about it constantly,” said Oz senior communications advisor Rachel Tripp last month.
Nonetheless, with Fetterman refusing to debate Oz, the Post-Gazette, which criticized the Oz campaign for going after Fetterman’s health “in an adolescent manner,” questioned Fetterman’s fitness to serve in the Senate.
“If Mr. Fetterman is not well enough to debate his opponent, that raises serious concerns about his ability to serve as a United States senator,” stated the editorial.
“If Mr. Fetterman’s communication skills have not yet recovered sufficiently to effectively debate his opponent, many voters will have concerns about his ability to represent them effectively in Washington,” added the editorial. “While he has gamely undertaken more campaign events and media interviews in recent weeks, Mr. Fetterman still speaks haltingly and relies on closed captioning to fully understand his conversation partners.”
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