Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman of Pennsylvania said Tuesday he won’t debate Republican rival Mehmet Oz next week, objecting to what he called the Oz campaign’s mocking his recovery from a stroke.
“My recovery may be a joke to Dr. Oz and his team, but it’s real for me,” Mr. Fetterman, the state’s lieutenant governor, said in a statement.
“I will not be participating in a debate the first week of September, but look forward to having a productive discussion about how we can move forward and have a real conversation on this once Dr. Oz and his team are ready to take this seriously,” he added.
Surgeons implanted a pacemaker with a defibrillator to regulate Mr. Fetterman’s heartbeat after he suffered a stroke last spring.
The health woes has raised concerns about his ability to return to the campaign trail. He has held two brief rallies in the past week.
An Oz campaign aide said last week that Mr. Fetterman wouldn’t have had a stroke if he “had ever eaten a vegetable in his life.” In a radio interview on Tuesday, Mr. Oz, a celebrity surgeon and former TV personality, didn’t disavow his aide’s remark.
“I can only speak to what I’m saying ― is that John Fetterman should be allowed to recover fully, and I will support his ability, as someone who’s gone through a difficult time, to get ready,” Mr. Oz said on KDKA.
Later Tuesday, the Oz campaign said it had been notified that Mr. Fetterman would not take part in next week’s planned debate on live TV.
“John Fetterman is a liar, a liberal, and a coward,” said Brittany Yanick, communications director for the Oz campaign.
Mr. Fetterman said the rhetoric from Mr. Oz’s team “made it abundantly clear that they think it is funny to mock a stroke survivor.”
“I chose not to participate in this farce,” he said of the canceled debate. “Any sense that these ’challenges’ were done in good faith is damaged.”
Earlier, Mr. Fetterman referred to his recovery and his need to “improve my auditory processing and speech.”
“I look forward to continuing to meet with the people of Pennsylvania. They’ll always know where I stand,” he said.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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