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Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, D-Penn., has agreed to one debate against his opponent in the state's U.S. Senate race
The debate will take place on October 25 and will be hosted by Nexstar Television. It will be broadcast across the state.
Republican Mehmet Oz, Fetterman's opponent, originally proposed five debates beginning in early September.
Fetterman did not commit to any debates until last week, when he promised to announce a date later, although he had signaled his openness to a debate in August.
Fetterman is recovering from a stroke he suffered in May that he says led to difficulties with hearing and speech.
“We said from the start that we’d do a debate, which John reiterated very clearly again last week. Enough distractions, it’s time to talk about the issues,” Rebecca Katz, a top Fetterman advisor, said in a statement.
Not long after the October event was announced, another debate about the debate also kicked off.
Fetterman’s campaign requested several accommodations for the debate, the Oz campaign said, including the use of a closed captioning system to allow Fetterman to read the moderator’s questions and Oz’s answers, as well as practice sessions to get familiar with the closed captioning. The Fetterman campaign confirmed those requests.
“It’s a debate in which Fetterman insisted on accommodations for his health condition, accommodations that are not permitted on the U.S. Senate floor,” Oz's campaign manager Casey Contres’ said in a statement.
Despite the agreement, the Oz campaign has pushed for changes, like asking for the debate to be extended from 60 minutes to 90 minutes, making Fetterman's use of the closed captioning is made clear during the event and insisting that the practice sessions don't tip off debate questions.
Fetterman's campaign agreed to two of the three requests from Oz — that the use of the closed captioning system be disclosed and that no questions will be shared ahead of time.
"We are not sure why the Oz team is inferring that the professional people at Nexstar are a part of some grand conspiracy here to give us questions earlier," Fetterman's campaign said.
The Fetterman campaign accused the Oz of moving the goalposts.
"Oz agreed to a 60 minute Nexstar debate. Then we agreed to a 60 minute Nexstar debate. Now, suddenly 60 minutes isn’t good enough, and he’s demanding 90. Let’s be real: If we agreed to 10 debates, Oz would be demanding 20. He’s going to keep trying to move the goalposts, because this is his only play," Fetterman's campaign said.
Fetterman has been under pressure from Oz to debate for weeks, and in the absence of a debate schedule, the Oz campaign started questioning Fetterman's mental acuity and alleging that Fetterman was shying away from a debate because he still suffers lasting stroke symptoms that could impact his performance as a senator.
In the last few days, Fetterman also received pressure from other places, like writer Kyle Sammin in a Philadelphia Inquirer op-ed, who wrote, "The Oz team was absolutely correct to raise the question of their opponent’s cognitive fitness."
The Washington Post's editorial board also pushed Fetterman to debate, writing this week, "Mr. Fetterman is asking voters for a six-year contract without giving them enough information to make sound judgments about whether he’s up for such a demanding job."
The Post also pointed out that Pennsylvania voters are allowed to vote by mail beginning on September 19, meaning that many could vote before they see Oz and Fetterman's debate at the end of October.
In the statement, Contres said, "It’s a debate that Fetterman insisted be delayed until only two weeks remain in the campaign, to keep voters in the dark as long as possible."
