Samuel Case, FISM News

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Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz is now leading Democrat John Fetterman in the Pennsylvania Senate race following a disastrous debate by Fetterman, a new poll shows.

The latest poll by InsiderAdvantage, taken only a day after the candidate’s debate, shows Oz leading Fetterman with a near three-point advantage, 47.5% to 44.8%, while 3.6% said they were still undecided. Oz holds a significant lead with independent voters, 65.9% to Fetterman’s 22.5%.

The poll also asked, “Regardless of which candidate you are voting for, who do you believe won the debate itself, John Fetterman or Mehmet Oz?” A majority of respondents said Oz, 53.6%, while only 20.5% said Fetterman won, and 25.9% were unsure. 

Following the debate, some Democrats have questioned why Fetterman was allowed to participate, as it put the lingering effects of his stroke on full display. 

“In retrospect, he probably shouldn’t have debated,” former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell (D) said, per CBS News.

Others, such as MSNBC columnist Liz Plank, are accusing Oz of being a “bully.”

Dr Oz just gave a masterclass on how to bully people with disabilities https://t.co/FA4AlG1rRa

— Liz Plank (SUBSCRIBE TO MY SUBSTACK) (@feministabulous) October 26, 2022

Similarly, “The View” co-host Sunny Hostin said Oz “chose to bully a stroke victim,” while touting Fetterman’s “bravery” for appearing on the debate stage. 

Fetterman’s campaign attempted to blame the closed captioning system, put in place to assist the candidate’s trouble with auditory processing, for his poor performance.  Despite the fact that Fetterman struggled to vocalize his thoughts and was unable to give clear answers to many of the questions that were posed, his campaign office spun the performance in his favor. 

“We are thrilled with John’s performance. He did remarkably well tonight ⁠— especially when you consider that he’s still recovering from a stroke and was working off of delayed captions filled with errors,” said Fetterman communications director Joe Calvello.

Nexstar, the parent company of NewsNation, which hosted the debate, responded to the Fetterman campaign with a statement from its chief Communications Officer, Gary Weitman.

“It is unfortunate that Mr. Fetterman is now criticizing the closed captioning process employed by Nexstar during tonight’s debate. Both candidates agreed to the technical set-up for the closed captioning process weeks ago, which was implemented at the request of the Fetterman campaign,” Weitman said.

“Both candidates were offered the opportunity for two full rehearsals with the same equipment used in tonight’s debate; Mr. Fetterman chose to do only one,” he further explained. “In fact, Nexstar’s production team went to extraordinary lengths to ensure the effectiveness of the closed captioning process, and to accommodate several last-minute requests of the Fetterman campaign. The closed captioning process functioned as expected during rehearsal and again during tonight’s debate. We regret that Mr. Fetterman and his campaign feel otherwise.”

The Oz campaign has responded to Fetterman’s complaints by offering a second debate.

“We’re sorry to hear that the Fetterman campaign was unhappy with how the closed captioning system that they requested was working on Tuesday,” the Oz campaign’s communications director, Brittany Yanick said. “We’re happy to do a second debate any time, and let the Fetterman campaign source a closed captioner that they believe is of better quality.”