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Fetterman blows simple inflation question as Don Lemon runs cover for debate: ‘I was expecting worse’

November 1, 2022 | | Print Article

With the midterm elections one week away, CNN anchor Don Lemon was a man on a mission Tuesday morning, praising John Fetterman for his debate performance last week against Republican challenger Dr. Mehmet Oz — a performance seen by many as a disqualifying disaster because of the cognitive challenges the Democrat displayed as a result of a stroke earlier this year.

It’s one thing to be a blatant shill for the Democratic Party, but to do so openly under the guise of being even-handed is an insult to rational viewers.

“I have to be quite honest, I didn’t have the same reaction as most people,” Lemon said on “CNN This Morning,” before noting a reaction of disbelief that many people had at Fetterman’s inability at times to form a coherent thought. “I was expecting worse from Fetterman — I was. And I think that people will be more empathetic than we in the media may be letting on, too, because they have people who have dealt with these issues.”

Lemon interviewed Fetterman and he referenced that exchange while taking care to note that Oz has turned down multiple requests to come on the network — the GOP candidate is seen as a smart man and proves it here.

“Look, we have more of the Fetterman interview coming up throughout the hours here on CNN and ‘CNN This Morning.’ But just so everyone knows, at home, our team has been in touch with Dr. Oz, with the campaign numerous times,” he said. “We put in requests. So far they have said no, they’ve declined that. We would love for him to join us on ‘CNN This Morning’ before election.”

The GOP was quick to share a clip of that interview, where Lemon asks Fetterman about the “biggest cause of inflation” and whether “the Biden administration should be doing more.”

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“Instead of addressing the question, Fetterman bizarrely starts talking about the 2017 Trump tax cuts,” the party said in the tweet.

Co-host Kaitlan Collins pointed out that many people said Fetterman should never have agreed to the debate.

“There were some, even Democrats that we had heard from who said they thought maybe he should have not done it,” she said. “But he was saying there that he basically made the argument that he believed it was better to come out and be transparent. Well, we’ll find out if it paid off in about a week.”

Lemon chimed in to say that Fetterman “doesn’t believe that it has hurt him,” before referencing his own mother, whom the CNN anchor calls “my one-woman focus group.”

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“Said she said I was expecting worse. Having dealt with people who have strokes, I did not think he did badly at all, as you know, the press has been putting out. She said he thought he did fine,” Lemon said, before adding that “the people of Pennsylvania will decide this.”

“And I have to be quite honest, I didn’t have the same reaction as most people. Like, most people are like, oh, my gosh, I can’t believe it,” he continued. “You know, Oz is now doing such a great job with him. Dr. Oz, of course, is a smart man and did a great job.”

Collins closed out the segment by stressing that “it’s not just about it’s not the debate and what happened there. It’s how he would actually govern,” getting agreement from co-host Poppy Harlow, who added that it’s about “how will you vote on these issues?”

Tom Tillison
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