Fetterman and Oz face off in Pennsylvania Senate debate on abortion, inflation, more

The highly anticipated Pennsylvania Senate debate on Tuesday night was a fast-paced affair dense on policy but relatively light on the personal attacks that have defined a key race for who controls Congress’ evenly split upper chamber.

It also put Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman’s stroke symptoms back in the spotlight — as well as what he said was his resilience and recovery from, as he put it, a notable but not disqualifying challenge.

Many eyes were on Fetterman’s health as he took the stage. He spoke haltingly and sometimes inconsistently throughout the debate, even more so than he has at campaign events since returning to the trail in August, three months after his stroke. At times he seemed to struggle to complete his answers.

Two monitors were hung above the heads of the moderators, which transcribed both the questions and Republican Mehmet Oz’s answers in real time, to help with Fetterman’s auditory processing issues, which outside neurologists have said are no indication of cognitive issues for stroke survivors.

Fetterman has also worked with a speech therapist; his doctor said last week he was ready for “full duty” in office.

Several times on Tuesday, though not often, there was a pause before Fetterman answered a question as he read the transcription.

Soon after the debate began, he invoked his stroke and the sometimes-mocking criticism he has faced because of it from his rival’s campaign team.

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“Let’s talk about the elephant in the room: I had a stroke. He’s never let me forget that,” Fetterman said in his opening remarks, teeing up a line he would repeat over the course of the hour. “It knocked me down, but I’m going to keep coming back up.”

Oz, a former surgeon and popular TV host, did not mention his opponent’s health on stage.

Both candidates were forced to answer for inconsistent views on policies: For example, each was presented with past comments on fracking that contradicted what they’ve said on the issue on the trail.

“I strongly support fracking,” said Oz when asked about comments he made in 2014 arguing against the industry, which employs thousands of Pennsylvanians but draws scrutiny over its environmental effects.

Fetterman, too, was asked by moderators to square his recent public support for fracking with comments he made in 2018 sharply criticizing it.

“I’ve always supported fracking,” he insisted.

Of the discrepancy, Fetterman said awkwardly: “I do support fracking … I do support fracking.”

He and Oz also tried to take advantage when asked about the issues on which they have hinged their candidacies.

“I want to look into the face of every woman in Pennsylvania,” said Fetterman when the debate shifted to abortion access, contrasting his views with his opponent, who describes himself as “pro-life.”

“If you believe that the choice of your reproductive freedom belongs to Dr. Oz, then you have a choice,” Fetterman said.

“Roe v. Wade, for me, should be the law,” he added, referring to the national guarantee to abortion that was overturned by the Supreme Court this summer.

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Fetterman, however, dodged questions on whether he would support any restrictions on abortion, including in later trimesters.

The moderators also continually followed up with Oz on whether he would support South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham’s proposal to institute a nationwide ban on abortion, with limited exceptions, after 15 weeks.

Oz, as he has done with reporters, declined to answer yes or no, instead insisting he was against federal control of the issue and preferred it be left up to the states — to women, their doctors and local politicians, he said.

“Any bill that violates what I said, which is the federal government interfering with a state rule on abortion, I would vote against,” Oz eventually acknowledged.

On crime, meanwhile — an issue he has leveraged as he has closed his yawning polling gap — Oz touted his endorsements by multiple police unions in the state while Fetterman defended himself against soft-on-crime allegations, claiming Oz has “no experience “with public safety.

Fetterman said that as a mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania, he had successfully worked to curb gun violence and had a track record of addressing public safety issues.

“We should be talking about crime and inflation — the issues that are hurting Pennsylvanians,” said Oz, who at multiple points in the debate touted a plan to “unleash” the state’s energy industry to, as he envisioned, raise wages and bolster businesses and help lower high prices.

Oz cited one example of a woman who could no longer afford her groceries – a dismaying problem, he said.

Fetterman, he said, was a “radical” who wouldn’t be budget conscious and would raise taxes.

Fetterman said Oz wouldn’t have voted for Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act in Congress, which allows Medicare to negotiate some prescription drug prices, and he invoked Oz’s wealth and relative lack of roots in Pennsylvania.

“He has 10 gigantic mansions,” Fetterman said. “We must push back against corporate greed, we must also make sure that we’re also pushing back against price gouging.”

When asked to explain his plan to attack price-gouging corporations, Fetterman did not answer, speaking more broadly about how “inflation is hurting Americans” and how Oz “has never been able to stand up for working families all across America.”

Elsewhere, Fetterman said he supported a law to raise the state minimum wage to $15 an hour, more than double its current rate. Oz said he wanted the minimum wage even higher than that but driven by market forces, not a law, via his plan for the state’s energy companies.

The two candidates also split on the value of federal student loan forgiveness – which Fetterman supports — while Oz argued he had a more defined plan for lowering the cost of college.

The campaigns react post-debate

Tuesday was the only debate Fetterman agreed to after Oz’s entreaties and criticism and ahead of it, his campaign attempted to lower expectations for his performance, with two top aides telling reporters in a memo on Monday that debating “isn’t John’s format” and citing Oz’s years on television.

In the minutes right after the faceoff ended Tuesday night, his campaign team mobilized to — in their words — tout how he had performed.

“We are thrilled with John’s performance,” spokesman Joe Calvello told reporters.

The campaign announced late Tuesday that it planned to run an ad targeting Oz for one of his answers on abortion access, in which he said policy should be democratically decided by states but more specifically involve “a woman, a doctor and local political leaders.”

The Oz camp, meanwhile, declared victory.

“We saw tonight a debate that was a complete disaster for John Fetterman,” adviser Barney Keller told reporters. “He wasn’t able to defend any of his radical positions, and it really showed.”

Both candidates will be back on the stump Wednesday, with Election Day in less than two weeks and early voting well underway.

Heading into Tuesday, Polls had narrowed considerably, with FiveThirtyEight’s average now showing Fetterman ahead by less than 3 points, down from nearly 11 points six weeks ago.

Will McDuffie is one of seven ABC News campaign reporters embedded in battleground states across the country. Watch all the twists and turns of covering the midterm elections every Sunday on Hulu’s “Power Trip: Those Seeking Power and Those Who Chase Them” with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos .