ADVICE TO DEMS: NEVER SEND A STROKE VICTIM TO DEBATE A TV STAR
The Fetterman campaign may have just watched what remained of its prospects in Pennsylvania circle the drain after last night’s (10/25) sole debate between him and PA Senate candidate Dr. Oz.
Fetterman, who suffered a severe stroke days before the May primary and cast his vote from a hospital bed, appeared unable to put together nearly a single coherent sentence throughout the entire debate while TV veteran Dr. Oz deftly and “surgically” sliced and diced his way through an hour of questioning, using Fetterman as a lifeless sparring dummy for a majority of the debate.
Recovering from his stroke, Fetterman’s answers ranged between somewhat inept and completely incomprehensible. The ugly performance started right from the beginning, with Fetterman bidding viewers “good night” as part of his opening statement.
Fetterman opens the debate:
“Hi. Good night everybody.” pic.twitter.com/mg0X3Iwf5D
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) October 26, 2022
It only got worse from that point forward. Fetterman was unable to coherently respond to an allegation that he hadn’t paid his taxes:
[Oz has] said you have not paid your taxes … how do you respond?”
Fetterman: “It was helping two students 17 years ago to help them buy their own homes. They for and didn’t pay the bills and got are paid and it has never been an issue in any of the campaign before.” pic.twitter.com/hv5M4YWc0a
— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) October 26, 2022
He was also unable to provide reasoning for not releasing his medical records, which would be of obvious concern due to the fact that he is recovering from a stroke and PA citizens will likely want to know that their Senate candidate is lucid:
Mod: “Why haven’t you released your medical records?”
Fetterman: “My doctors believe I am ready to be served.”
Mod: “Why won’t you release the records?”
Fetterman: “My doctor believes I am fit to be serving and I believe that is where I am standing.” pic.twitter.com/kTH88tPH0Q
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) October 26, 2022
Fetterman also seemed to take an inordinate amount of time in grasping and responding to questions as they were asked:
Moderator: “Are there any of Biden’s policy positions that you disagree with.”
*seven Mississippi pause* pic.twitter.com/uAf1iPMcoC
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) October 26, 2022
He tried to take several “jabs” at Oz – needless to say that none of them landed:
Fetterman: “Dr. Oz loves free money when it’s a half a million dollar on one of his down on the ranch in Florida and whether it was a $50 tax break you know about his farm in Montgomery County.” pic.twitter.com/LvLFRMb68v
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) October 26, 2022
The disaster culminated in Fetterman attempting to square statements from 2018 where he said he was against Fracking with statements he made in 2022, where he claimed to be pro-fracking.
Oh my god pic.twitter.com/TVAAPNXYiU
— Quoth the Raven (@QTRResearch) October 26, 2022
His campaign manager similarly had a meltdown in the spin room, dropping the “F” bomb while trying to convince the media that his campaign hadn’t completely melted down.
For those who don’t like curse words in their feeds skip this video. pic.twitter.com/ccAwjJdEPl
— Oliver Morrison (@ORMorrison) October 26, 2022
But no amount of spin was able to convince social media that the debate was a success.
“I can’t impress upon you how much of a disaster this debate is… I’ve never seen anything like it. This race is completely and totally over,” said Clay Travis of Clay and Buck.
Former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of PA William McSwain commented: “That debate was hard to watch. How in the world — in a country of 330 million people — could John Fetterman be in the running for one of a hundred seats in the world’s greatest deliberative body? This is embarrassing.”
“Just so we are all clear: that was Fetterman WITH weeks of prep and specialized computer assistance throughout. So what you just saw is the very, very best Fetterman can do. Which is terrifying,” said Senior Advisor to President Trump Stephen Miller.
Donald Trump Jr. called it “worse than any of us could have ever imagined”.
OMG John Fetterman it’s worse than any of us could have ever imagined. At this point the moderator is filibustering to make sure he doesn’t get any more Qs. I think that’s 4 in a row to @DrOz. Even today’s partisan hack media can’t cover for Fetterman being brain dead! #PASen
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) October 26, 2022
The reaction in the PredictIt voting market after the debate was stark. As noted by Steven Rattner, the former head of the Obama Auto Task Force, NY Times op-ed author and economic analyst for Morning Joe, the “prediction market quickly moved against Fetterman post debate”.
Some pundits clearly felt bad for Fetterman’s state:
I can’t believe it’s this bad
I feel bad for Fetterman
This is sick
— Tim Pool (@Timcast) October 26, 2022
While others pulled no punches for him continuing:
I have no sympathy for Fetterman. He could have stepped down and preserved his dignity, but his thirst for power drove him to this. https://t.co/yy3746bYsC
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) October 26, 2022
You can watch a full replay of the debate here and decide for yourself:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2VXq9oSSxs
Tyler Durdens edits ZeroHedge.