ERIE, Pennsylvania—In his long-awaited debate against Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz, Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman was asked to complete two conflicting statements: one said he never supported fracking and the other said he has always supported fracking.
“Um, I support fracking, and I don’t support fracking, and I stand, and I support fracking,” Fetterman said.
As he tried in vain to balance the two opposing sentiments, an evening of debate that had been largely upbeat and bumped against Oz fell silent.
Some viewers turned to each other, creased their faces and gritted their teeth. One person in the back even let out a moan.
It was clearly not the kind of response – or general debate – that a hall full of Fetterman supporters had hoped for. The fracking moment seemed to neatly capture the lieutenant governor’s speaking vulnerabilities after his stroke in May, as well as his difficulty Tuesday night battling Oz’s seizures as he maneuvered his auditory processing difficulties with captioning.
Fetterman trolls Oz on his dark past… as a New York Yankees fan
Fetterman kicked off Tuesday night’s debate — the only debate in the race in the Pennsylvania Senate — by warning viewers that he would have some difficulty answering questions smoothly.
“I may be missing some words in this debate, mash two words together,” Fetterman said, repeating what has become a mantra as he recovered from his stroke in May.
That warning was well heeded, as Fetterman’s deliberate, sometimes confused answers struggled to keep up with the ticking clock that dictated the length of his and Oz’s answers.
Fetterman’s interrupted speech was in stark contrast to the speed with which Oz rushed through his answers, sometimes close to the pace of an auctioneer.
Some answers came more naturally to Fetterman, such as an answer to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. The Democratic hopeful also scored points with the crowd of about two dozen Fetterman supporters in Erie for his answers about healthcare and singers slamming Oz on his “10 giant mansions.” The crowd sometimes muttered “bullshit” and that Oz should shut up on his turns to speak, all while hiding in the Erie County Democratic Party office, plastered inside and out with Fetterman signs.
“Let’s rally the troops,” Jim Wertz, the chairman of the Erie County Democrats, told the group ahead of the debate. “Take care of the big man, I’m sure it will be fine tonight.”
John Fetterman releases long-awaited update on his health after a stroke
But Fetterman’s speaking difficulties were evident throughout the debate, especially during the fracking question.
Still, Oz’s debate performance wasn’t flawless either.
At one point, he was specifically asked if he would support Senator Lindsey Graham’s national abortion ban after 15 weeks. Oz said he would leave abortion decisions to states, perhaps suggesting he vote no, but at no point has he actually said that. The Erie crowd grumbled – with an onlooker yelling, “YES OR NO!”
One of the moderators asked for clarification on the question, and instead of stating his position definitively, Oz only said that he had answered the question three times.
A question about whether he misled viewers of his show about the merits of certain unproven medical treatments also seemed to throw Oz, as he seemed to acknowledge that some of his TV doctor advice wasn’t always correct.
“That was a TV show, just like this is a TV show,” Oz said.
For weeks, the Fetterman campaign has tried to temper expectations for the debate, the only one in the hotly contested Senate race slated for November’s election.
Their rollout began with an interview on NBC News, in which Fetterman used captioning to communicate with the reporter. The system, he said, allows him to understand questions more quickly, as he still struggles with auditory processing after his stroke in May.
Subsequently, the Fetterman campaign released an update on his health status, with the candidate’s doctor saying “he is recovering well from his stroke and his health has continued to improve,” despite ongoing problems with auditory processing.
Fetterman’s need for captioning for the debate became both a talking point for the GOP and part of the lieutenant governor’s strategy to lower expectations en route to the big night.
Finally, on Monday, the day before the debate, the Fetterman campaign sent a memo to reporters claiming that Oz has a “huge built-in benefit” from his decades as a TV celebrity.
“We’ll admit – this is not John’s format,” the campaign said in a memo to reporters. “Look no further than the primaries debates earlier this year.”
Fetterman grabs ‘Wegner’s’ blunder as Oz campaign mocks his health
In April, Fetterman delivered largely flat performances in the televised debates against Rep. Conor Lamb (D-PA) and state representative Malcolm Kenyatta, both of whom had more polished rhetorical feats at their disposal.
The Fetterman campaign was also recently released an advertisement in which the candidate speaks his mindlink his recovery to access to health care and family leave.
‘He is honest. He’s said he’s not a good public speaker on camera,” said Erie City Council member Jasmine Flores.
Oz’s campaign pushed for seven debates with Fetterman, but the candidates agreed to only one. Fetterman’s reluctance to debate became a common topic of conversation for Oz.
Oz also raised expectations for his debate performance by increasing the opportunity during a Monday night interview with Tucker Carlson on Fox News, following his pattern of conducting interviews largely from friendly outlets and avoiding media availability at his events, which are often not public. be made in advance.
Despite a sputtering start to the race and an initially broken GOP base, the Oz campaign has slowly gained support from undecided voters in September and October, narrowing a gap of about 10 points to an average deficit of just 2.3. points, according to Thirty-FiveEight. The RealCelarPolitics average had Fetterman just 1.3 points higher in the debate.
Early voting has already started in Pennsylvania, with voters also being able to apply for a ballot and make their choice as soon as they want.
Bill Tarbell, an Erie resident who attended the waiting party, said he thought Oz was avoiding too much, telling The Daily Beast, “I don’t think he answered any questions.” But Tarbell also admitted that it was clear that Fetterman struggled at times “because of his disability”.
“Fetterman did the best he could,” he said.
Jackie Kucinich contributed to this report.
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