Something is clearly amiss in the U.S. Senate race in Pennsylvania, with even The Washington Post — typically a reliable Democratic stenographer operation — calling foul.
Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman is running against Republican nominee Dr. Mehmet Oz, and Fetterman has all but refused to debate his opponent as concerns swirl about the state of his health after he suffered a stroke back in May. Fetterman leads in the polls and seems content to ride it out.
On that note, the Washington Post editorial board is calling on Fetterman to release his full medical records and agree to a debate with Oz next week — he has roughly agreed to a single debate “sometime in the middle to end of October,” which would be well after voters have started casting mail-in ballots. The standard has been two debates, according to the newspaper.
The board penned an editorial noting that Fetterman “has seemingly been reluctant to commit to firm debate dates, and that troubling stance has raised questions about whether he, still recovering from a serious stroke, is fit to serve in the Senate.”
“After suffering a stroke in May, Mr. Fetterman was off the campaign trail for three months and has campaigned little since then; he held a rally Sunday,” the op-ed said. “Mr. Oz has pressed for five debates, but Mr. Fetterman dodged and ducked before tentatively agreeing last week to one but not until ‘sometime in the middle to end of October.'”
“Since returning to the campaign trail, Mr. Fetterman has been halting in his performances. He stammers, appears confused and keeps his remarks short. He has held no news conferences,” the board said. “Mr. Fetterman acknowledges his difficulties with auditory processing, which make it hard for him to respond quickly to what he’s hearing. He receives speech therapy — and we wish him a speedy, full recovery — but the lingering, unanswered questions about his health, underscored by his hesitation to debate, are unsettling.”
The piece pointed out that the Democrat’s campaign “squandered credibility” by waiting two days to notify the public that he had been hospitalized after having a stroke back in May, just days before the Pennsylvania primary. It took them weeks more to reveal a complete picture of Fetterman’s medical history — he had a pacemaker with a defibrillator implanted after the stroke.
“The campaign’s response to questions about Mr. Fetterman’s health is to point to a doctor’s note, released more than 14 weeks ago, which said ‘he should be able to campaign and serve in the U.S. Senate without a problem’ if he takes his medications and exercises,” the board said.
“That’s not good enough,” the op-ed concluded. “Mr. Fetterman is asking voters for a six-year contract without giving them enough information to make sound judgments about whether he’s up for such a demanding job. We have called for full disclosure of health records from candidates for federal office in both parties, including Donald Trump and Joe Biden, and we believe Mr. Fetterman should release his medical records for independent review.
“And he should debate Mr. Oz before voters start casting their ballots.”
Oz appeared Monday on Fox News’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” with host Tucker Carlson calling Fetterman “cognitively impaired,” before adding that the Republican “is getting crushed by a stroke victim who was already crazy.”
(The latest poll on RealClearPolitics has Fetterman up by 5.)
“I am not mocking a guy for having a stroke, but we are all gonna have to live under him if he makes it to the Senate,” Carlson said. “We know what happens when you elect someone who’s cognitively impaired, we’re living under it now.”
The liberal media was quick to note that the show’s chyron read: “You’re not allowed to point out that Fetterman is a giant walking vegetable.”
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
Tom Tillison grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills. Tillison also contributes to BizPac Review.
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