Oz pushes for September debate with Fetterman, before voting starts

Republican Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz is pressuring Democratic candidate Lieutenant Gov. John Fetterman to pick a time and place for a debate that Fetterman says he has agreed to.

Fetterman, who suffered a stroke earlier this year and has since shown significant difficulty speaking at length, agreed to debate Oz after weeks of staying out of the public spotlight.

“The first debate has to be in September, so we can allow voters to know who their candidates are right now,” Oz said in an interview with Axios on Thursday. 

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Oz added, “Pick one of the debates in the next two, three weeks. So we can get this ball rolling.” 

The Democratic nominee has shunned the press and avoided lengthy speeches since returning to the campaign trail. When speaking, Fetterman has shown difficulty articulating his thoughts or maintaining long sentences.

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Fetterman’s commitment to a debate came during an interview with Politico, in which Fetterman, the current lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania, said he is “absolutely going to debate Dr. Oz.”

“We’re absolutely going to debate Dr. Oz, and that was really always our intent to do that,” Fetterman said. “It was just simply only ever been about addressing some of the lingering issues of the stroke, the auditory processing, and we’re going to be able to work that out.”

Lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania and Democratic U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman addresses supporters during a rally on Aug. 12, 2022, in Erie, Pennsylvania.
(DUSTIN FRANZ/AFP via Getty Images)

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While it is unclear which debate Fetterman will take part in, he said it will be featured on a “major television station” in the state and will take place “sometime in the middle to end of October.”

Fox News’ Kyle Morris contributed to this report.