Fetterman Given Two Chances to Practice Closed Captioning Before Debate

Pennsylvania's Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman and Dr. Mehmet Oz were given opportunities for two full rehearsals with the closed captioning set-up used in Tuesday night's debate, according to debate host Nexstar.

Fetterman, a Democrat running against Republican Oz for a U.S. Senate seat in Pennsylvania, only took part in one of those rehearsals, Nexstar Media Group Chief Communications Officer Gary Weitman said in a statement Wednesday.

Fetterman has been recovering from a stroke he suffered in May and used closed captioning during the debate to follow the conversation. After the debate, which spurred criticism for his performance as well as praise that he participated in the first place amid his recovery, the communications director for Fetterman's campaign said in a statement that Fetterman "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," Joe Calvello wrote in the statement. "Debating has never been John's strength—it wasn't even before the stroke—yet he still managed to go toe to toe with a professional talk show host on live TV....John may not have pronounced every word correctly, but it was Oz who had the biggest gaffes of the night."

In Nexstar's response to the Fetterman campaign statement, Weitman said that both candidates "agreed to the technical set-up for the closed captioning process weeks ago, which was implemented at the request of the Fetterman campaign."

"Both candidates were offered the opportunity for two full rehearsals with the same equipment used in tonight's debate," the statement read. "Mr. Fetterman chose to do only one. In fact, Nextar's production team went to extraordinary lengths to ensure the effectiveness of the closed captioning process, and to accommodate several last-minute requests of the Fetterman campaign."

"The closed captioning process functioned as expected during rehearsal and again during tonight's debate," Weitman continued. "We regret that Mr. Fetterman and his campaign feel otherwise."

Fetterman's health in the aftermath of his stroke has become a key topic in the U.S. Senate race, which is viewed as extremely important in determining which party will control the Senate after next month's midterm elections. The debate was the one and only time Fetterman has gone head-to-head with Oz, and opinions have varied on which candidate came out on top.

A survey of 11 political commentators by The Philadelphia Inquirer concluded that Fetterman had tightly won the debate. On the other hand, Oz's campaign declared victory in the conversation, and a WPXI online poll Tuesday saw 82 percent of respondents say that the Republican had won.

Fetterman at times seemed to be struggling to communicate clearly during the debate, something he was transparent about in his opening statement.

"I had a stroke. He's never let me forget that," Fetterman said of Oz. "And I might miss some words during this debate, mush two words together, but it knocked me down and I'm going to keep coming back up."

Stacy Rosenberg, an associate teaching professor at Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz College who specializes in crisis and political communication, told Newsweek that while it's "clear" that Fetterman is still recovering from his stroke, voters may care more about whether he made his positions clear. Fetterman said that he would support Roe v. Wade during the debate, but Oz may be facing issues because of his ties to Republican Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano, who has called for strict abortion restrictions, Rosenberg said.

Both Oz and Mastriano have been endorsed by former President Donald Trump.

"Given that issue is so central for voters, they might be looking more for the policy-related communication, not whether the communication was fluid," Rosenberg said.

She added that it was "unclear" if Fetterman's issues during the debate could be attributed to the technology he was using or more to his recovery. Celebrity Dr. Oz, on the other hand, has had "a long career in front of the camera, and that showed during the debate."

"For voters that are very squarely in their political party, they've already decided and I'm not sure that the debate will change minds," Rosenberg continued. "There could be people that are on the fringes that are your independent voters where they might have concerns. But again, I think they look to the policy issues more than the communication."

Newsweek reached out to Fetterman's campaign for comment.