Tag: Fetterman

Fetterman addresses stroke, targets Dr. Oz at Pittsburgh rally: 'Every now and then I might miss a word'

Pennsylvania Democratic Senate nominee John Fetterman used his stroke recovery to target his Republican opponent during a rally Saturday, joking that he has an excuse for his verbal mix-ups while mocking Dr. Mehmet Oz’s viral mispronunciation of a grocery store chain.

“As you know, I had a stroke,” Fetterman told a crowd in Pittsburgh during a rally. “Oh and I’m so grateful to be here today now after surviving that better and better, you know?”

Fetterman, the current lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania, has taken criticism for not being open about his health since his May stroke, which occurred days before he handily won the Democratic nomination for Senate. Oz and others have raised questions about whether the 52-year-old former mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania, is up to the task of serving in the Senate. 

“You know, the only lingering issue that I have after that stroke is sometimes auditory processing, sometimes. And, every now and then, I might miss a word or, sometimes, you know, I might mush two words together,” Fetterman said before bringing up a video of Oz that his campaign has mocked all summer.

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“Let me give you an example. OK, now imagine, let’s assume, I maybe want to go shopping at Wegmans, and I’m actually standing in a Redner’s, but I actually think I’m shopping in Wegner’s. That’s what it’s like to kind of mush two words together, but something that doesn’t really exist. Thank you, Dr. Oz, for that,” Fetterman said.

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In a now-famous video — which Oz tweeted in early April, before the Pennsylvania primaries and before Fetterman’s stroke — Oz can be seen in a grocery store lambasting inflation and the high cost of vegetables that he said he needed for a crudité platter. 

Fetterman’s campaign circulated the video this summer, frequently using it to paint Oz as out of touch for using the word crudité instead of the more common phrase “veggie tray.” Fetterman’s campaign even sells campaign merchandise based on the incident. Fetterman said Saturday he needed to look up the word when he first saw the video.

“How many of you, how many have you ever heard the word crudités? Anyone? Anyone ever heard it?” Fetterman said. “I actually thought it was about my stroke. … I had to Google it to find out what it is.”

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After Fetterman said he would not participate in an early September debate due to his continued stroke recovery, Oz accused his opponent of being in too poor health to serve in the Senate or too scared to present his views to voters. The pair have agreed to one debate, scheduled weeks before the Nov. 8 midterm election.

“John Fetterman has been ducking, dodging these debates, which is insulting to the voters of Pennsylvania,” Oz told Fox News Digital last month. “And he has to own the reasons for his desire to avoid a debate with me. Either he’s healthy, which he says he is, and doesn’t want to answer for his radical positions in past statements, or he’s lying about his health. Either way, the voters of Pennsylvania deserve an answer, and I think they deserve that answer pretty quickly, since the absentee ballots will be mailed out in the next two to three weeks.”

Fetterman has attempted to brush off criticism of his health as unfair and out of place for a physician.

“Dr. Oz never stops reminding everybody that I had a stroke. Yeah. In fact, I’m sure there’s probably at least one person here that are filming it. Trying to have me miss some words on video. What an inspiring campaign for you. Dr. Oz,” Fetterman said Saturday.

The Senate race in Pennsylvania has tightened considerably in the past few weeks after Fetterman appeared the favorite earlier in the summer, according to public opinion polls. A Fox News poll released Wednesday showed Fetterman ahead of Oz by 45%-41%. A four-point edge is within the poll’s margin of sampling error and down from an 11-point advantage in late July.

This week, Fetterman has put out several fundraising calls warning that Oz was closing in on him in the polls. 

“Dr. Oz is catching up to me in the polls. Seriously, he’s only three points behind within the margin of error,” Fetterman tweeted Saturday.

John Fetterman returns to Senate campaign trail after health scare, contest with Mehmet Oz enters final months

Pennsylvania Senate candidate and the state’s Lt. Gov. John Fetterman is heading back to the campaign trail after health troubles sidelined him for more than 90 days.

Fetterman, 52, will host an event Friday evening in Erie County, Pennsylvania where the Democrat is expected to open up about a stroke he suffered in May that threatened his political aspirations as well as his life.

Campaign spokesman Joe Calvello said Fetterman’s return to the campaign trail will start with a few lower-profile events before ramping up his schedule.

“He’ll talk about how blessed he is to be back,” Calvello said. “It’ll be somewhat emotional — a little raw about what he went through, how grateful he is to be campaigning again.”

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Fetterman’s recovery is also in question as he previously declined to take prescribed medication. “He’s following the doctor’s orders,” Calvello clarified, saying the Democratic candidate is also adhering to a low-sodium diet and is walking three to five miles per day.

“He’ll miss a word here or there when he’s speaking sometimes, or maybe in a crowded room he’ll miss hearing a word,” the spokesperson said. “Besides that, he’s rock solid.”

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The return to the campaign trail comes as the Democrat is in one of the most contested senatorial races in the country, against Republican opponent Dr. Mehmet Oz, who has repeatedly drawn attention to Fetterman’s absence from the campaign.

“Have You Seen This Person?” Oz asked in a poster shared online last month. “It has been 90 DAYS since Fetterman’s last public campaign event. Pennsylvanians deserve answers.”

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The Senate’s current 50-50 tie makes each senatorial race important for both parties but the Pennsylvania contest is especially consequential as it will fill the vacancy left by retiring Republican Sen. Pat Toomey.

The contest is already the most expensive senate race in the country and has featured major endorsements including one from former President Donald Trump, who backs Oz.

Fetterman’s absence from the campaign has not severely impacted the lead he holds over Oz in most polls as Fox News and Beacon Research have Fetterman up 11 points.

Other polling data shows a smaller gap between the candidates as Blueprint Polling and Suffolk University have Fetterman up 9 points, Fabrizio Ward has Fetterman up 6, and Cygnal has Fetterman up 4.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.