Democratic Pennsylvania Senate candidate John Fetterman squared off in a debate on Wednesday evening against Republican challenger Dr. Mehmet Oz.
Fetterman, who suffered a stroke earlier this year, frequently struggled to coherently answer questions and even some Democrats couldn’t deny that his performance was a nightmare.
Fetterman yells about Social Security as Oz makes closing remarks
The night included several bizarre moments, including one in which Fetterman began shouting off-camera about Social Security as Oz attempted to make his closing remarks.
Fetterman was also unable to articulate a coherent response when pressed about having switched his position regarding fracking.
I love political theater. Pennsylvania debate:
Q: “But there is that 2018 interview where you said, ‘I don’t support fracking at all.’”
Fetterman: “[Silence] Oh. Uh. I do support fracking. And…I don’t. I don’t…I support fracking. And, I stand…and I do support fracking.” pic.twitter.com/J8BGPr3qqm
— Compound248: Grande Jumper (@compound248) October 26, 2022
Interestingly, Fetterman refused to definitively say whether or not he will make his medical records publicly available.
Breitbart noted how some liberal observers were forced to acknowledge that Fetterman exhibited obvious signs of being mentally impaired.
Liberal reporter calls debate “a disaster for Fetterman”
They included Time magazine senior correspondent Charlotte Adler, who tweeted that the debate was “a disaster for Fetterman” and went on to say that his performance was “much much worse than I expected.”
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.)
— Charlotte Alter (@CharlotteAlter) October 26, 2022
MSNBC host Joe Scarborough spoke up as well, admitting that Fetterman’s performance was “painful to watch regardless of one’s politics.”
Fetterman’s difficulties did not go unnoticed by conservatives either, with Republican strategist Andrew Surabian stating he has “never seen someone so obviously mentally/physically unfit to serve in office than John Fetterman.”
Even with the moderators constantly cutting Fetterman off to protect him from himself, there is nothing the media can do to spin this debate.
I have never seen someone so obviously mentally/physically unfit to serve in office than John Fetterman. #PASenateDebate
— Andrew Surabian (@Surabees) October 26, 2022