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Republicans, Democrats Respond To John Fetterman Debate Performance

Photo of Carmine Sabia Carmine SabiaOctober 26, 2022
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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.

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The Pennsylvania Senate debate between Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz and Democrat John Fetterman finally happened and it was objectively a disaster for the Democrat. People on Capitol Hill, including Democrats, thought the performance of Fetterman was “painful to watch,” Axios reported.

Fetterman had difficulty speaking during the debate and his campaign blamed the closed-captioning system provided for him as being “delayed” and “filled with errors.” Nexstar’s communications chief said both candidates were given a chance to test the system twice — but Fetterman chose to only do one rehearsal. Fetterman is still recovering from a stroke he suffered in May.

The host of the debate responded to the Fetterman campaign with fire, knocking down their excuses and stating the system worked as expected.

“It is unfortunate that Mr. Fetterman is now criticizing the closed captioning process employed by Nexstar during tonight’s debate,” Nexstar communications chief Gary Weitman said in a statement.

Beyond that, Fetterman’s debate performance was so bad that many on both sides of the political aisle are criticizing him.

“Why the hell did Fetterman agree to this?” a Democrat lawmaker and supporter of Fetterman said to Axios. “This will obviously raise more questions than answers about John’s health.”

Leland Vittert, a NewsNation host, said “the biggest issue was John Fetterman’s health and his ability to comprehend speech, and to then speak coherently on the issues of the day.”

“Everyone is nervous. I’ve traveled everywhere. Fetterman is a deep concern. And this debate will only increase it,” a Pennsylvania Democrat official said.

“It’s sad to see John Fetterman struggling so much. He should take more time to allow himself to fully recover,” Republican Sen. Pat Toomey, whose spot in the Senate the two men are campaigning to get, said on CNN.

“I wished Fetterman was in a better place to clap back. Overall, I argue it wasn’t great for us but still a draw. Remember in these next few weeks that Oz’s campaign is spending tens of millions of dollars against a man with a major medical condition,” one Democrat said in support of Fetterman.

A poll taken by the network that aired the debate showed that 82 percent of respondents believe Oz won the debate.

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The responses to Fetterman’s performance were even more brutal on Twitter.

“John Fetterman staff isn’t serving their principle well or in good conscience… There are things more important in this world than power,” Meghan McCain said.

“If Fetterman was a GOPer, his campaign would be over. If you claim otherwise you are a liar and a propagandist,” she said.

“That #PASenateDebate was painful to watch. I feel very sorry for John Fetterman that he suffered a stroke, but it is cruel of his team to expose him to such ridicule when he is clearly unfit to either take part in TV debates or be a fully-functional senator. He should withdraw,” Piers Morgan said.

Even non-Republicans were concerned.

“This is painful to watch regardless of one’s politics,” MSNBC “Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough said.

“John Fetterman’s ability to communicate is seriously impaired. Pennsylvania voters will be talking about this obvious fact even if many in the media will not,” he said.

“If Fetterman were a Republican, this debate would be an SNL cold open,” Tim Young said.

“My lord, this may be the saddest moment I’ve ever seen on a debate stage,” Andrew Surabian said of Fetterman’s answer to supporting fracking.

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The hosts mentioned that Fetterman used to be against fracking but that now he said he supports fracking and they asked him to explain his change in position but, after an awkward pause, his answer was horrific.

“I do support fracking and I don’t, I don’t — I support fracking, and I stand, and I do support fracking,” he said.

“Among other things, both Fetterman and Biden have awful women for wives. They could have steered their husbands away from humiliation on the world stage but they wanted prominence and power more than they wanted to protect their spouses,” Matt Walsh said.

“You could tell when Fetterman tried to answer that fracking question he didn’t even know where he was. Feel bad for the guy in a personal sense, the people in his life should be getting him help, not subjecting him to this,” Jack Posobiec said.

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“Go back in your timeline now, find any blue check who spoke to Fetterman recently and claimed he’s totally fine Make note of who they are. Never listen to any of them about anything, ever. Their willingness to lie knows no limits,” Buck Sexton said.

“I can’t impress upon you how much of a disaster this debate is for @JohnFetterman. I’ve never seen anything like it. This race is completely and totally over,” Clay Travis said.

CNN even fact-checked lies Fetterman told during the debate.

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Photo of Carmine Sabia Carmine SabiaOctober 26, 2022