Last night, Republican Mehmet Oz and Democrat John Fetterman took the debate stage and faced off for Pennsylvania’s open U.S. Senate seat.
It was a rough debate for Fetterman as he struggled to explain his positions and stumbled through his words. He opened the debate by calling his health the “elephant in the room”, referring to the stroke that he suffered five months ago.
“I had a stroke. He’s never let me forget that,” he said of Oz, “And I might miss some words during this debate, mush two words together, but it knocked me down and I’m going to keep coming back up.”
When pressed to release his medical records later on in the debate, he refused to commit.
Oz did not comment on Fetterman’s health challenges, instead focusing on his policies on immigration and crime and his support for President Biden.
At one point, Oz said Fetterman is “trying to get as many murderers out of jail as possible,” to which Fetterman replied that he believed he could run on his record on crime, stating that he “Ran to be mayor back in 2005 in order to fight gun violence and that’s exactly what I did.”
Fracking was also brought up in the debate, which is a critical issue in a state where thousands of jobs are tied to natural gas production. When Fetterman was pressed to explain his shifting position on fracking, the answer that he provided was awkward and unclear. “I do support fracking. And I don’t, I don’t. I support fracking, and I stand and I do support fracking,” he said.
Oz stated that he is in full support of fracking, saying “I have been very consistent from day one. Fracking has been demonstrated, it’s a very old technology to be safe. It is a lifetime for this Commonwealth to be able to build wealth, similar to what they’ve been able to do in other states. For that reason, I strongly support fracking.”
