Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., cited his own “difficult” debate performance in 2022 against Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz while arguing Sunday that President Biden can still win in November and “deserves” a second term.
In an appearance on “Fox News Sunday,” Fetterman dismissed the New York Times, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and a number of left-leaning pundits calling on Biden to drop out of the race.
“There’s no value in, in any of those things. I mean, there was that same kind of a freak out after my debate. And in fact, I might even say that I had a more difficult evening than the president did,” Fetterman told host Shannon Bream. “And here I am right now, having this conversation. And I really like to remind to everybody watching that right now, Biden is one and Trump is still zero, and he’s the only person that’s ever beaten Trump. And I really believe that Joe Biden will do that again, despite all of the Democrats wetting the bed over that kind of thing.”
Bream noted that Fetterman was recovering from a stroke at the time of his debate, and has improved over time, while voters are more concerned about 81-year-old Biden because of his advanced age.
Sen. John Fetterman speaks to a reporter as he leaves the Senate chamber after a vote in the U.S. Capitol on June 4, 2024. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“We had a difficult debate, and yet we still managed to go on to win,” Fetterman said. “Now everybody was calling that… the end of my career. That was the end of this race. And everyone was predicting that I was going to lose actually by two points or more. And I smoked Oz by five points. And that’s why I’m saying it’s like one debate. It’s not a career any more than Donald Trump’s… convictions for felonies aren’t really going to define, you know, his reputation and his presidency. And that’s why they’re both here again.”
Trump was convicted of 34 counts in the Manhattan hush money trial and is awaiting sentencing just days before the Republican National Convention.
In a post on X following the CNN Presidential Debate on Thursday, Fetterman urged panicked Democrats to “chill the f— out” about Biden’s widely panned performance because he is living proof “a rough debate” doesn’t disqualify a political candidate.
President Biden during the first presidential debate of this election cycle in Atlanta on Thursday, June 27, 2024. (Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Fetterman suffered a stroke in May 2022, causing clear auditory processing issues that impacted his speaking abilities in the months leading up to Election Day that November. Despite a jarring debate performance that left many Americans questioning his fitness for office, Fetterman still defeated the former daytime TV host known as Dr. Oz, the Republican in the Pennsylvania Senate race.
On Sunday, Fetterman further argued that Biden “deserves” a second term, citing his economic record and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
President Biden and former President Trump during the first presidential debate in Atlanta on Thursday, June 27, 2024. (Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“I’ve watched him for the last four years and he’s done incredibly good things. I mean, he got us through that pandemic, that pandemic, that over a million Americans lost their lives through that. And look at our economy. Ours is the world’s envy,” he said. “And look at the stock market. Look at all these other kinds of metrics. People were calling that it was going to be a recession. And here we are now, booming and all of those kinds of things. So the president has done a really good job and he deserves a second term. But I really do want to be clear, it’s going to be very close.”
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According to a Fox News poll conducted April 11-16, registered voters in Pennsylvania gave Trump wide margins over Biden regarding who they trusted to best handle the economy, foreign policy and the border.
“The only poll that’s really going to matter is Election Day,” Fetterman said. “And the polls changed and they inverted in my race as well. And here I am as a United States senator. And I just got back from Israel just a couple days ago. And that’s why I want to remind everybody that one debate does not define a person’s record or the kind of person or the situation.”
Fox News’ Brian Flood contributed to this report.
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