Mehmet Oz didn’t perform particularly well in his Pennsylvania Senate race debate against John Fetterman Tuesday night. The Republican tried to avoid getting pinned down on abortion — but said the right should come down to “a woman, her doctor, and local political leaders” — and the economy. He lied about his history of promoting quack cures as a TV doctor. And he made clear he supports Donald Trump, who continues to pose an unprecedented threat to American democracy. But on the debate stage, a medium in which politics is even more performative than usual, the former television doctor had a clear advantage over the Democrat. He didn’t need to be remarkable; he just sought to capitalize on the struggles his opponent, who has had difficulty communicating since suffering a stroke in May, had in responding to his broadsides.
“I had to beg on my knees for you to come here,” Oz said in one exchange, accusing Fetterman of shying away from voters.
Fetterman, the lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania, had sought to temper expectations ahead of the debate, acknowledging in a memo to reporters that even with the use of closed captioning, which he’s used in interviews as he recovers from his stroke, Oz would have a “huge built-in advantage.” Even so, Fetterman’s struggles in Harrisburg were palpable; though it seemed clear his cognition was not impaired, as his doctor said in a statement on his health last week, it frequently appeared difficult for the Democrat to fully express himself. That’s not necessarily unusual for recovering stroke victims, nor does it mean he is physically or mentally incapable of performing the duties of the job he’s seeking. But in the debate format, especially against a guy comfortable performing on television, it could be rough. He seemed, at times, like someone trying to play piano with a broken hand: He knew the tune he was trying to play, but was unable to hit every note.
In some moments, Fetterman sidestepped questions. Asked to square his change of heart on fracking — to now supporting it — Fetterman seemingly refused to acknowledge that he had in 2018 spoken out against the practice. “I’ve always supported fracking,” he said. Fetterman did get some barbs in against his opponent, invoking on several occasions something he called the “Oz Rule”: “If he’s on TV, he’s lying,” Fetterman said. He jabbed that if Oz had such a problem with Bernie Sanders he should move to Vermont and run against him, and remarked “you roll with Doug Mastriano” when Oz was asked about a federal abortion ban (without answering directly on how he would vote on Lindsey Graham‘s proposed 15-week federal ban on abortions, Oz said he did not “want the federal government involved with that at all”). Oz, meanwhile, wasn’t so much polished as he was slippery, avoiding substance on several issues; seeming out of touch on others, including the minimum wage; and lying about the dubious medical advice he was known to promote on his television show.
“I ruffled a lot of feathers on my program,” he said with a straight face, “because I told the truth.”
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But the big question going into the debate was Fetterman’s health, and the answer to that remains unclear — in part because of the candidate’s apparent evasiveness. Asked if he would commit to disclosing his full health records, not just the statement his doctor provided, Fetterman demurred: “I’ve been very open,” he said. “My doctor believes I’m fit to be serving.”
Polls have suggested more Pennsylvanians than not agree. But Oz, for the dangers he and his party pose, has seemed to close the gap in surveys as the high-stakes election draws nearer, and Tuesday’s debate could make what was already a tight race even tighter. “My campaign is about fighting for anyone in Pennsylvania that ever got knocked down,” Fetterman said in his closing statement, “and had to get back up again.”
