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Video of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaking with President Joe Biden at the airport in Syracuse, New York, on Thursday shows him fretting about losing key U.S. Senate seats. In one exchange, Schumer focused on the Georgia U.S. Senate race between Republican Herschel Walker and Democrat Raphael Warnock, admitting that the seat may flip to the GOP. “The state where we’re going downhill is Georgia. It’s hard to believe that they will go for Herschel Walker,” Schumer can be heard telling Joe Biden. Schumer at least appeared hopeful about early turnout in Georgia, calling it “huge.” In another...

After Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman’s campaign tried to blame its candidate’s humiliating debate performance on a closed captioning system “filled with errors,” Nexstar Media Groups, who hosted the debate, said that was a lie.Here’s the statement from the Fetterman campaign [emphasis mine throughout]: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. John won countless exchanges, counter-punched aggressively, and pushed back on Oz’s cruelty and attacks. Gary Weitman, Nexstar’s Chief Communications Officer, responded with this statement:Both...

[snip] At one point, Scarborough said: "He didn't look Pennsylvanian. I mean, I've been to Pennsylvania a lot—this guy doesn't look like he's from Pennsylvania. He doesn't talk like he's from Pennsylvania."Whatever happened to "the beautiful mosaic," Joe? "Diversity, equity, and inclusion" never includes people who run as Republicans. Imagine a Republican saying, e.g., that Ilhan Omar "doesn't look like she's from Minnesota. She doesn't talk like she's from Minnesota." Or Rashida Tlaib doesn't sound like she's from Michigan. Liberal cries of racism, and immediate demands for the offender's cancellation, would echo throughout the land! Get the rest of the...

New York Times editorial board member Michelle Cottle admonished Democratic U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman and other prominent midterm candidates for shying away from debates in their campaigns. Cottle claimed in an opinion piece on Monday that political candidates who have been trying to get out of debates are participating in a trend that reflects a "troubling sign of our political times," and puts "democracy at risk of sliding farther into crisis." Her commentary came as part of a piece previewing the upcoming debate between Fetterman and his Republican opponent, Dr. Mehmet Oz, which is set to air Tuesday, a...

NewsNation political editor Chris Stirewalt gives his thoughts on the Pennsylvania Senate Debate: "My heart really went out to John Fetterman. …This is going to cause real hardship for his candidacy."

The vast majority of viewers say Republican Mehmet Oz won Tuesday evening’s Pennsylvania Senate debate against Democrat Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, an online poll reveals.Following the debate, local Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, station WPXI opened an online poll for viewers to cast their vote for who they believe won.Although Fetterman is considered the favorite in the Pittsburgh area, about 82 percent of viewers said Oz won the debate, while the Democrat garnered just 18 percent.

Capitol Hill's reaction to the Pennsylvania Senate debate was brutal for Democratic nominee John Fetterman, from Democrats and Republicans alike. Why it matters: Multiple sources wondered why Fetterman agreed to debate when he clearly wasn’t ready. Fetterman struggled at times to respond to the moderators' questions, even with the assistance of a closed captioning device. "Why the hell did Fetterman agree to this?" one Democratic lawmaker and Fetterman backer told Axios. "This will obviously raise more questions than answers about John's health." Fetterman opened the debate by calling his health the "elephant" in the room. "I had a stroke. He’s...

Media figures and conservatives reacted to Democrat John Fetterman’s debate performance against Republican Mehmet Oz during the debate on Tuesday night, calling it a “sad” disaster.As Breitbart News reported, Fetterman had a poor showing during the debate, mostly due to his speech disabilities stemming from a stroke earlier this year. Routinely, Fetterman struggled to give coherent responses to moderator questions as he confused words and paused awkwardly. Reporter Charlotte Alter of TIME called the debate a “disaster” while MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough called it “painful.”so far this is a disaster for Fetterman— Charlotte Alter (@CharlotteAlter) October 26, 2022I spoke to Fetterman...

My lord, this may be the saddest moment I've ever seen on a debate stage. pic.twitter.com/4mSKqirry9— Andrew Surabian (@Surabees) October 25, 2022

The exclusive one hour debate will be held at the abc27 studio in Harrisburg and can be watched in each of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties. *** WHTM-TV ABC Harrisburg, Lancaster, Lebanon, York, PA WJET-TV ABC Erie, PA WFXP-TV FOX Erie, PA WYTV-DT MNT Youngstown, OH WBRE-TV NBC Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Hazleton, PA WYOU-TV CBS Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, WTAJ-TV CBS Johnstown, Altoona, State College, PA WPHL-TV MyNetworkTV Philadelphia, PA WPXI-TV NBC Pittsburgh, PA ******** *The U.S. Senate Debate will also be STREAMED on the following websites: WETM-TV NBC Elmira, NY (Tioga) Mytwintiers.com @wetm18news WPIX-TV CW New York, NY (Pike) Pix11.com @pix11news WIVB-TV CBS Buffalo,...

Ahead of Tuesday evening's Pennsylvania U.S. Senate debate, the Fetterman campaign is desperately trying to manage expectations for their candidate before he faces Mehmet Oz in the only general election debate Fetterman would agree to participate in well after early voting started in the Keystone State. In a memo emailed to the media, the Fetterman campaign says it wants "be clear about this match-up" before harping repeatedly on the fact that "Dr. Oz has been a professional TV personality for the last two decades" in its quiet admission that Fetterman is in trouble on Tuesday night. The campaign memo, oddly,...

In a memo emailed to the media, the Fetterman campaign says it wants "be clear about this match-up" before harping repeatedly on the fact that "Dr. Oz has been a professional TV personality for the last two decades" in its quiet admission that Fetterman is in trouble on Tuesday night. The campaign memo, oddly, quotes a previous Philadelphia Inquirer report stating "Fetterman wasn't great at debates" and then his staff admits "this isn't John's format." They don't clarify what *is* Fetterman's format given his notorious stump speech gaffes — "the Eagles are...so much better...than the Eagles" — and recent poorly-received...

Fetterman attempted to address the fallout from the NBC debacle Wednesday in another interview — this one with the PennLive editorial board. The interview was not in person and still featured moments of stumbling from the Democrat. “The elephant in the room is that I had a stroke,” Fetterman said during the nearly hourlong clip. “There’s no secret that, sometimes, I’m going to miss words.” With just weeks to go before Election Day, Fetterman has few chances remaining to demonstrate to skeptics that he’s bounced back enough to represent Pennsylvania. “I think the Fetterman campaign has stretched this period of...

"Are you committed to showing up on October 25 to debate your opponent no matter what happens?” Fetterman: “No”“To clarify, are you committed to showing up on October 25?"Fetterman: “Well, yeah. Of course I’m going to show up on the 25th.” pic.twitter.com/2U8AYWQ5S4— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 12, 2022

HERSHEY, Pa. — Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mehmet Oz and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro appeared Monday at the 38th annual Pennsylvania Chamber Dinner in Hershey. Oz and Shapiro had separate 30-minute conversations. Advertisement Those conversations came after a discussion featuring former Democratic National Committeewoman Donna Brazile and former Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who talked about Pennsylvania's role in the nation's political environment. During his discussion, Oz linked the issue of crime to economic viability in places like Philadelphia. "You walk around places like Philadelphia, what they really need is a safe community that's not fraught with drugs...

For the first and likely only time before the November election, Gov. Greg Abbott and Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke are set to face off in a televised debate. The two will appear onstage at 7 p.m. Central time Friday at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in Edinburg. The debate will be on local Nexstar television stations across the state, and The Texas Tribune will livestream the debate here.

Debates have been a staple of the democratic process for millennia. From the acrimonious debates of the Roman Senate to the Lincoln-Douglas debates in 1858 to today, people rely on debates to learn about candidates and their position on the issues. But there’s something weird in the air this year. There is always a political calculus applied to debates; incumbents tend to seek fewer debates while challengers routinely demand more. Whether a candidate is enthusiastic when it comes to debates depends on a lot of factors. A shy inarticulate candidate might be less inclined to debate than one who is...

John Fetterman’s hometown paper has called on the Pennsylvania Democratic Senate nominee to release his full cognitive tests, saying that debate delays have “raised more questions.” The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s editorial board published a piece on Wednesday, calling on Fetterman and his GOP opponent, Mehmet Oz, to make their medical records available: Further delays in scheduling a debate between U.S. Senate candidates John Fetterman and Mehmet Oz have raised more questions about Mr. Fetterman’s health, including his ability to communicate and process information. He has increased his public appearances, but his speech remains halting, and he repeats key phrases like mantras....

Hounded by accusations from Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz that he is avoiding debates, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman has finally agreed to one in late October in Harrisburg. Fetterman’s campaign said Wednesday that he has committed to an Oct. 25 debate hosted by Nexstar Television that will be shown live on network affiliates reaching all 67 Pennsylvania counties. “We said from the start that we’d do a debate, which John reiterated very clearly again last week,” said Rebecca Katz, a senior advisor to the Fetterman campaign, in a statement. “Enough distractions. It’s time to talk about the issues.” A...

Democratic Pennsylvania Senate nominee John Fetterman announced on Wednesday that he will take part in a televised debate on Oct. 25 in Harrisburg, Pa. The debate will be hosted by The Hill’s parent company Nexstar Media Group. The debate will air on Nexstar stations WPXI in Pittsburgh, WHTM in Harrisburg/Lancaster/Lebanon/York, WPHL in Philadelphia, WTAJ in Johnstown/Altoona/State College, WBRE and WYOU in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, WJET and WFXP in Erie, and WYTV in Youngstown, Ohio.