Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman and Dr. Mehmet Oz recently had a live debate for the open Senate seat. The debate was moderated fairly with even questions for both candidates. Dr. Oz gave succinct answers with minimal back-and-forth with Fetterman. The problem with this debate was… John Fetterman himself. The issue was not with his answers or lack of decorum. Nor is the problem one of a partisan nature. The issue is that John Fetterman had a stroke earlier this year and he has clearly not fully recovered.
Fetterman required all of the live questions from both moderators to be captioned in real-time. The stroke he suffered impaired his ability to comprehend live speech. The workaround to this obvious problem in a debate format was the real-time captions. There were giant monitors above both moderators’ heads. Even with the live captioning to assist Fetterman, he still heavily struggled to comprehend the questions and respond appropriately. The result of all of the aforementioned was a complete mess of a debate that should have never happened.
SOURCES:
Fetterman struggles during TV debate with Oz – POLITICO
Takeaways from the Pennsylvania Senate debate between Fetterman and Oz | CNN Politics
What the Fetterman-Oz Debate Revealed – The Atlantic
Fetterman, Showing Stroke Effects, Battles Oz in Hostile Senate Debate – The New York Times
One hour with Fetterman and Oz: Key takeaways from their only debate
