PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio, AP) — U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman has agreed to face Mehmet Oz in a televised October debate, as the two face off in November’s election for retiring Sen. Pat Toomey’s seat.
The Democrat's campaign announced his intention Wednesday after weeks of pressure from his Republican rival, including questions on the severity of his lingering health problems from a stroke.
"We're absolutely going to debate Dr. Oz, and it was always our intent to do that,” Fetterman said. "We will debate sometime in the middle of October — as each of the past two Pennsylvania Senate races have — on a major television station to reach voters across the Commonwealth. We are still finalizing the details."
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Oz's campaign immediately dubbed it a “secret debate,” with no details on a location or a date.
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 a stroke in May. Fetterman’s campaign has said Oz was operating in bad faith.
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“This has never really been about debates for Dr. Oz. This whole thing has been about Dr. Oz and his team mocking me for having a stroke because they've got nothing else,” Fetterman said.
Fetterman’s campaign had previously said he was willing to debate.
“It has simply only ever been about addressing some of the lingering issues of my stroke, the auditory processing, and we're going to be able to work that out,” said Fetterman, who says he cannot always respond quickly to what he’s hearing. In brief public speaking events, Fetterman also has struggled to speak fluidly.
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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.
Democrats see the Pennsylvania U.S. Senate race 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.