John Fetterman and his neck lump agreed to one debate with Dr. Oz on October 25.
Fetterman is running against Republican nominee Dr. Mehmet Oz in the 2022 US Senate race in Pennsylvania.
Fetterman has been dodging Dr. Oz’s requests to debate since his massive stroke in May.
John Fetterman finally agreed to *one* debate with Dr. Oz well after early voting starts and with certain conditions.
The 60-minute debate will take place in Harrisburg on October 25.
Fetterman’s campaign asked for “live, real-time closed captioning that will appear on monitors visible to the candidates and throughout the duration of the debate.”
Dr. Oz’s campaign asked that the debate moderator “explain that Fetterman is using closed captioning and to extend the debate from 60 minutes to 90 minutes to accommodate any delays.” the Washington Post reported.
The Washington Post reported:
Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, the Democratic nominee for Senate, said Wednesday he would participate in one debate with Republican Mehmet Oz, who had made an issue of his opponent’s willingness to face him because Fetterman continues to recover from a serious stroke. The face-to-face meeting is scheduled for Oct. 25
Fetterman’s spokesman, Joe Calvello, said to “facilitate a seamless conversation,” Nexstar Television, which is hosting the debate in Harrisburg, has “agreed to provide live, real-time closed captioning that will appear on monitors visible to the candidates and throughout the duration of the debate.”
The Oz campaign responded later that the Republican would agree to the debate, but asked for specific conditions, including that the debate moderator explain that Fetterman is using closed captioning and to extend the debate from 60 minutes to 90 minutes to accommodate any delays.
“Doctor Oz looks forward to being in Harrisburg on October 25th to share his vision for a better Pennsylvania and America, and he is ready to expose Fetterman’s record as the most radical far-left senate candidate in America,” said Casey Contres, Oz’s campaign manager, in a statement. “Doctor Oz will continue to push for more and sooner debates. Pennsylvania voters should not have to wait until October 25th to hear from their candidates.”
The two campaigns continued to spar over specific requests for the debate on Thursday afternoon.
We already accommodated the closed captioning request for John. That’s going to slow everything down. I don’t see why this is an unreasonable request, so voters can hear us debate rather than waiting for people to type closed captions. https://t.co/V5P1aq2Lbk
— Dr. Mehmet Oz (@DrOz) September 14, 2022