The debate performance by Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, the Democratic candidate for Senate, was “much worse” than expected, according to a journalist who said she recently spoke with him.
Charlotte Alter, a senior correspondent for TIME, sent a now-viral tweet critiquing Fetterman after he faced off against Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz, using closed captioning to help him understand questions as he is still recovering from a stroke in May and questions swirl about his overall health. He struggled at times, with awkward pauses and stumbles over his words.
“I spoke to Fetterman recently, and I expected him to be very bad tonight. But he was much much worse than I expected (and much worse than in our one-on-one conversation.),” Alter said Tuesday night.
Earlier, the journalist posted a thread tamping down expectations for Fetterman’s performance, noting that he was never a “masterful orator” like former President Barack Obama or Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and insisting that the Democrat’s “strength has always been in his ability to talk like a normal person” versus Oz, a longtime TV celebrity.
My take all in one place:
1) Fetterman was already a very bad debater pre-stroke
2) I spoke to him recently, and his communication in our one-on-one conversation was much clearer than what we saw tonight— Charlotte Alter (@CharlotteAlter) October 26, 2022
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Facing blowback for her apparent turnaround, Alter added to her post-debate tweet her “take all in one place”: that Fetterman “was already a very bad debater pre-stroke,” and, “I spoke to him recently, and his communication in our one-on-one conversation was much clearer than what we saw tonight.”
During the debate, Fetterman refused to commit to releasing his medical records when asked, but did exclaim, “My doctor believes I am fit to be serving, and I believe that is where I am standing.” After the event, his campaign said, “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.”
