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After much back and forth, a debate between Pennsylvania Senate candidates John Fetterman and Mehmet Oz was confirmed. However, one side was favored. The Democrat’s campaign announced that they agreed to a head-to-head for the upcoming October 25th debate in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, hosted by Nexstar Television. Although the date is a couple of weeks before the election, early voting in Pennsylvania begins on September 19th.
In a statement, Fetterman’s senior campaign advisor Rebecca Katz welcomed the development, saying, “We said from the beginning that we would have a debate, which John reiterated very clearly last week. Enough of the distractions, it’s time to talk about the issues.”
In addition, she sought to put Dr. Oz in an uncomfortable position. “While John will debate Dr. Oz next month, Oz doesn’t have to wait that long to be honest with Pennsylvania voters about his actual position on abortion. It’s a simple question, doctor: would you vote for the Republicans’ national abortion ban, or would you vote against it?” she added.
Statement from our campaign below: pic.twitter.com/4298084QSC
— Dr. Mehmet Oz (@DrOz) September 14, 2022
The Republican doctor’s campaign stated that Fetterman’s proposal comes with “unusual conditions.” Apparently, from the Pennsylvania lieutenant governor’s entourage and according to POLITICO, they requested a closed captioning monitor and two practice sessions to get used to closed captioning to help the Democrat’s auditory processing problems related to his stroke.
“As we made clear this morning, the Oz campaign is willing to accept Fetterman’s request for a date change and closed captioning during the debate, which is unprecedented and will not be available in the U.S. Senate. With these accommodations, the debate should be 90 minutes long to account for the closed captioning delays,” they added.
Pennsylvania is not the only key state where it has been difficult to get a debate between candidates. Katie Hobbs declined to debate Kari Lake in the Arizona gubernatorial race. Similarly to Pennsylvania, Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker announced a single televised debate for October 14th.
Joaquín Núñez es licenciado en comunicación periodística por la Universidad Católica Argentina. Se especializa en el escenario internacional y en la política nacional norteamericana. Confeso hincha de Racing Club de Avellaneda. Contacto: [email protected] // Joaquín Núñez has a degree in journalistic communication from the Universidad Católica Argentina. He specializes in the international scene and national American politics. Confessed fan of Racing Club of Avellaneda. Contact: [email protected]