Debate between John Fetterman and Mehmet Oz will take place in October
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman of Pennsylvania will participate in just one debate, his campaign said Wednesday, after weeks of his Republican rival, Dr. Mehmet Oz, pressuring Fetterman and aggressively questioning the severity of his lingering health problems from a stroke.
In a release on Thursday, Oz's campaign said that he agreed to debate Fetterman on Oct. 19. It will be simulcast on Sinclair Broadcasting stations around Pennsylvania.
The Fetterman campaign has not confirmed that the debate will take place on that date at this time.
Politico was first to report that Fetterman had agreed to one debate.
As the general election grows closer, Oz, a celebrity heart surgeon and political novice, has begun stepping up his questioning of Fetterman's fitness for office after he suffered the stroke in May. Fetterman's campaign has said Oz was operating in bad faith by insisting on debates and said his motivations were really "about mocking John for having a stroke."
Fetterman, the state's lieutenant governor, and Oz are vying to replace retiring Republican Sen. Pat Toomey in a race Democrats see as one of their best chances nationally to flip a Republican-held seat. The winner in the battleground state could help decide the chamber's partisan control next year.
Oz, who has been endorsed by former President Donald Trump, has accused Fetterman of lying about the seriousness of his stroke. Fetterman has said that he almost died after suffering the stroke just days before the Democratic primary.
Fetterman's campaign had previously said he was willing to debate but wants a debate that can accommodate the lingering effects of his stroke, in particular his diminished auditory processing speed — he cannot always respond quickly to what he's hearing. In brief public speaking events, Fetterman also has struggled to speak fluidly.
It was not immediately clear what accommodations Fetterman would be looking for in his debate appearance, but has used closed-captioning in video interviews with reporters.