Republican senatorial candidate Mehmet Oz on Friday demanded transparency around the health of John Fetterman, his Democratic opponent who suffered a stroke in the spring.
Mr. Oz said members of the public deserve answers about Mr. Fetterman’s health before they cast their votes.
“The absentee ballots are out, they’re circulating, people are making decisions, and John Fetterman hasn’t done interviews on the campaign trail to address tough questions that should be asked of him,” Mr. Oz said.
Mr. Fetterman has made several public appearances and has spoken with a limited number of media outlets since his stroke in May, but those instances have been less frequent than before his medical event.
Mr. Oz, who appeared with U.S Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., at the Wyndham Grand Hotel in Downtown, also used the opportunity to once again call upon Mr. Fetterman to agree to a 90-minute debate on Oct. 25. The candidates both say they want to debate on that night but can’t agree on the terms.
Mr. Oz challenged Mr. Fetterman to a series of at least five debates, and Mr. Fetterman has said he’s agreed to the Oct. 25 debate date as long as he could use closed captioning to help with the auditory processing issues he’s having.
But Mr. Oz said he requested the TV station tell voters that the Democrat was using such technology, and that the debate last for 90 minutes, not 60, to make up for the time spent reading the closed captioning monitor.
Mr. Toomey accused Mr. Fetterman of using health complications from his recent stroke as an excuse not to answer questions about his health or his other positions — namely crime, immigration and health care — from the press or voters.
“John Fetterman had a significant health issue. We all sympathize with that. Dr. Oz has made it clear he is willing to accommodate that,” Mr. Toomey said. “But he’s using the health issue to hide, he’s using it as an excuse to avoid having to defend this radical agenda.”
The race between Mr. Oz and Mr. Fetterman will determine who fills Mr. Toomey’s seat in the Senate. Mr. Toomey decided not to run again after serving two terms.
The Fetterman campaign did not directly respond to questions about the candidate’s health or whether it would agree to Mr. Oz’s dictates for a debate. However, Joe Calvello, a Fetterman campaign spokesman, said “today was just more desperate lying and mudslinging from Oz and his allies.”
“Once again, Oz could not even muster up enough supporters to do a public event in Pittsburgh, because he knows no real voters would show up to hear him speak,” Mr. Calvello said in an email. “John is holding massive rallies across the state, regularly drawing over 1,000 Pennsylvanians. At these events we hear from voters about how they do not want a senator who is a complete fraud, not even from PA, and would be an automatic vote to ban abortion and overturn the next election for Trump.”
Mr. Oz declined to say Friday whether he would support a bill introduced by U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham that would ban most abortions after 15 weeks nationwide.
Despite being “pro-life,” Mr. Oz said he believed abortion should be allowed under three circumstances: when the life of the mother is in the balance, and instances of rape and incest. He also said that the federal government should not interfere with what he feels should be a local decision.
“Local governments should drive these difficult decisions, and we want to have local government drive that solution,” he said.
Mr. Oz did not comment when asked whether he supported Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano’s plan to outlaw all abortions if elected governor of Pennsylvania.
Earlier Friday, Mr. Toomey endorsed Republican Jeremy Shaffer in Pennsylvania's 17th Congressional District. Mr. Shaffer is running against Democrat Chris Deluzio, an Iraq War veteran and voting rights attorney.
“Jeremy Shaffer is a successful entrepreneur, proven problem-solver, and principled leader who will get things done in Washington on behalf of the people of Pennsylvania's 17th Congressional District,” Mr. Toomey said. “With Jeremy's small business and community experience, and track record of accomplishments, he is exactly the type of candidate Western Pennsylvania needs in Congress to deliver real results, and I'm proud to endorse him and know he will always put our country’s needs first.”
Andrew Goldstein: agoldstein@post-gazette.com.
First Published: September 30, 2022, 10:03 p.m.
