Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz bashed his Democratic opponent, John Fetterman, on Friday, calling him a manufactured candidate.
Oz lambasted his opponent for refusing to agree to any debates for the midterm elections in November. He went on to describe Fetterman as completely manufactured by the media, saying they only want a placeholder candidate to get their agenda through.
“They’re being duplicitous. They’re manufacturing a candidate, literally a hologram — this fictional person that they want their readership to adore, and that’s what they’re trying to achieve,” Oz told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Friday night of the media’s relationship with Fetterman. “It’s not working because the people of Pennsylvania are too smart for that.”
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As evidence, Oz pointed to Fetterman refusing every debate with him despite Oz’s agreement to six different debates.
“Democracy lives on asking questions of each other. I will do whatever I can to serve the people of Pennsylvania. When John Fetterman agrees to zero debates … it shows that he doesn’t have the interest at heart of voters. And he’s dodging the debates because he doesn’t want the debate. He cannot defend the far-left radical positions you just articulated,” he said. “Here’s the truth: The reason he’s getting the money is because the liberals in California and New York don’t know how radical he is. I can’t imagine that, with good conscience, they would support him. What they want is the 51st seat in the Senate; they’re just trying to get a placeholder.”
Fetterman has loosely committed to a debate with Oz in October, though, while his campaign says he can perform the duties of a senator, his recovery is not yet far enough that he can handle “hostile auditory environments.” Oz’s campaign has made Fetterman’s health a pressing subject.
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The race has somewhat tightened in recent weeks, though Fetterman is still 8 points ahead, at 48.5%, to Oz’s 40.4%, according to the most recent polling from FiveThirtyEight. Oz is up by 3 points from his all-time low of 37.3% in mid-August.
