As Twitchy reported Monday, a recent article in the Philadelphia Inquirer noted that Democrat Pennsylvania Senate candidate John Fetterman “wasn’t great at debates” even before he had a stroke. Fetterman’s campaign team even picked up and ran with that message, doing what they could to lower expectations of Fetterman before his debate Tuesday night with opponent Dr. Mehmet Oz.
Team Fetterman’s email to the media also included this tidbit:
“We are prepared for Oz’s allies and right-wing media to circulate malicious viral videos after the debate to try to paint John in a negative light because of awkward pauses, missing some words and mushing other words together.”
You’re prepared for it because you’re expecting it? Then why have him debate at all?
TIME senior correspondent Charlotte Alter also tried lowering expectations of Fetterman hours before the debate:
Ahead of the Fetterman/Oz debate tonight, it's worth remembering a couple things:
1) Fetterman has never been a good debater. Even before the stroke, he has always been a somewhat wooden debater (see: PA primary debate, pre-stroke.) He's not Pete Buttigieg
— Charlotte Alter (@CharlotteAlter) October 25, 2022
2) Fetterman's vibe is "talks like a normal person," and normal people don't usually speak in fluent paragraphs memorized ahead of time and crafted for maximum political impact. So debates have never been his strong suit
— Charlotte Alter (@CharlotteAlter) October 25, 2022
3) I expect Oz to do very very well tonight. TV has been his medium for years– he's a natural. Fetterman thrives on social media and in person, Oz thrives on TV. A televised debate is playing on Oz's turf
— Charlotte Alter (@CharlotteAlter) October 25, 2022
4) Everyone will be watching for Fetterman's stroke symptoms. I can tell you already what they are: he sometimes says the slightly wrong word, or conjugates something the wrong way. (ie: "understanding" instead of "understood.")
— Charlotte Alter (@CharlotteAlter) October 25, 2022
For Dems, there will be some relief that he is not brain damaged. For Rs, his flubs will create fodder that they can spin into ads suggesting that he is worse off than he is.
— Charlotte Alter (@CharlotteAlter) October 25, 2022
5) Take one of the least-natural debaters in the Dem party, give him auditory processing issues and a tendency to flub words, and that's Fetterman going into tonight. Up against a slick TV doc who has spent a decade in front of the camera. Gonna be an interesting night.
— Charlotte Alter (@CharlotteAlter) October 25, 2022
I find that people who are just paying attention to #PASen now seem to think that before the stroke Fetterman was some masterful orator like Obama or Buttigieg. Couldn't be further from the truth. His strength has always been in his ability to talk like a normal person
— Charlotte Alter (@CharlotteAlter) October 25, 2022
And wear hoodies like a normal person. And chase down black joggers like a normal person.
To clarify– I mean Fetterman still does very well on social media and at his events. He speaks without a teleprompter, revs up the crowd, shake hands afterwards, etchttps://t.co/BQ4e3KjxEW
— Charlotte Alter (@CharlotteAlter) October 25, 2022
She only used Fetterman’s last name because she’s talking about Gisele. https://t.co/70TFop5k0v
— max (@MaxNordau) October 25, 2022
Not trying to be facetious here, but this is him when he’s off his teleprompter pic.twitter.com/eqo96EufBZ
— John Hasson (@SonofHas) October 25, 2022
Social media is his team and not him so that doesn't even count.
As far as in-person goes, shaking hands is pretty bare minimum.
— Alec Sears (@alec_sears) October 25, 2022
Fetterman's social media account is completely run by campaign interns. And his events have clocked him speaking for less than 20 minutes, stumbling at each one. And yes, he shakes hands and says thanks, you know, like a toddler can.
— TheCatsMeow (@LB22222222) October 25, 2022
His social media sucks too. The only thing going for him is the (D) after his name.
Related:
‘We’ll admit…’: Fetterman campaign reminds media he was never a very good debater so don’t expect much tomorrow https://t.co/mcWJh9aonj
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) October 24, 2022