This week, the editorial board of one of Pennsylvania’s largest newspapers went after Democrat U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman over his attempts to get out of debating with his opponent, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz, in the wake of his stroke that happened earlier this year, claiming that his recent excuses just “won’t cut it” with today’s voters.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Editorial Board tried to set up a balance in its op-ed by trying to call out Oz’s campaign because of its professionalism in dealing with the health issues from the Fetterman side.
Nevertheless, the paper’s editorial board did state that “Mr. Oz has raised legitimate concerns” concerning Fetterman’s health, stating:
“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. 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.”
The editorial board highlighted that Fetterman’s campaign was far to optimistic with its first projections of how quickly Fetterman would recover and that even the most recent projections of “several [more] months” to finally reach a “complete recovery” might also be far too optimistic.
The paper’s board concluded:
“Mr. Oz is pressing the issue in an adolescent manner; nevertheless, a live debate is the best way to assure voters Mr. Fetterman is up to the job. The Republican’s antics have given Mr. Fetterman a plausible out: He won’t share the stage with someone who has behaved so shamefully. But that won’t cut it. Voters have a right to know whether their prospective senator can do the job — including handling the give-and-take of a vigorous debate.”
The op-ed takes place just as a video clip came forward from Labor Day highlighting Fetterman having trouble speaking at a campaign event.
“Send me to Washington, D.C., to send–, so I can work with Senator Casey,” stated Fetterman. “And I can champion the union way of life–, in Jersey, excuse me in D.C. Thank you. Thank you very much. And it’s an honor–, I live eight minutes away from here. And when I leave tonight, I got three miles away, Dr. Oz in his mansion in New Jersey, you’ve got a friend and you have an ally. Send me to Washington, D.C.”
This clown makes Biden seem smart & articulate. Pennsylvania you can do so much better than this radical idiot.#PASen pic.twitter.com/2ZVsxZmZ2R
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) September 7, 2022
In another video that came after Labor Day, Fetterman’s wife appeared to quickly make her way in to block her husband from having to deal with a question from one political tracker about whether or not he will be up to debate his opponent, Dr. Oz.
The clip in question, which was marked by the National Republican Senate Committee’s (NRSC) Rapid Response account, highlighted a tracker asking Fetterman as part of a political march, “Hey John, are you going to debate Dr. Oz?”
As the tracker asked the question, Fetterman’s wife, Gisele Barreto Fetterman, jumps up and guides her husband out of the situation.
Once again, coward @JohnFetterman refuses to say if he will debate @DrOz.
Why is he so afraid to debate? pic.twitter.com/zUTKHYpNuY
— NRSC Rapid Response (@NRSC_Rapid) September 6, 2022
