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 magazine, 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.
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“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
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.”
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Fetterman’s own team sought to temper expectations before the debate, releasing a memo to reporters that cited his “lingering auditory processing challenge,” and said, “We’ll admit — this isn’t John’s format … [i]f we’re all being honest, Oz clearly comes into Tuesday night with a huge built-in advantage.”
In a memo sent to reporters, the Fetterman campaign seeks to lower expectations for tomorrow’s debate with Oz: “We’ll admit — this isn’t John’s format … if we’re all being honest, Oz clearly comes into Tuesday night with a huge built-in advantage.” pic.twitter.com/21CCMGGvbI
— Holly Otterbein (@hollyotterbein) October 24, 2022
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.”
