After much prodding from Dr. Mehmet Oz, John Fetterman has committed to debate his rival in the race for a US Senate seat in Pennsylvania. "We’re absolutely going to debate Dr. Oz, and it was always our intent to do that. 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," Fetterman said in a statement Wednesday. No date has been announced, but the debate will likely take place next month, NBC News reports.
Oz committed to five debates, while Fetterman previously had not committed to any, and Oz on Tuesday publicly mused whether Fetterman was "too sick" to debate. It was not the first time he'd attacked Fetterman's health due to the stroke Fetterman suffered while campaigning. Fetterman tells Politico his campaign may use a closed captioning monitor to ensure he doesn't miss any words due to lingering auditory processing issues related to his recovery.
Asked for a comment on Fetterman's commitment to a debate, an Oz rep replied, "Is it possible to quote somebody laughing?" Fetterman had his own words for Oz: "Dr. Oz is taking a very, very big bet on mocking somebody that’s dealing with a major health challenge, because there’s a lot of people all across Pennsylvania that whether they have themselves, or they have loved ones in their lives, that have real kind of challenges.” (More John Fetterman stories.)