Democrat Fetterman says no to Pennsylvania Senate race debate next week, cites stroke recovery

Pennsylvania Democrat Senate nominee John Fetterman says he won't debate GOP nominee Dr. Mehmet Oz citing his stroke recovery and calling the planned event a "farce."

Fetterman apparently has taken issue with accommodations the Oz campaign has offered to help him, including "bathroom breaks" and an earpiece "so he can have the answers given to him by his staff, in real time." 

"Dr. Oz's team [has] made it abundantly clear that they think it is funny to mock me as a stroke survivor," Fetterman, now the state's lieutenant governor, said in a statement Tuesday. "I chose not to participate in this farce. Any sense that these 'challenges' were done in good faith is damaged."

Fetterman had a stroke in May and has only recently recovered enough to make a limited return to the campaign trail in a close race that in November will be key in determining whether Democrats or Republicans control the Senate.

Oz, former host of "The Dr. Oz Show," on Tuesday appeared to distance himself from the campaign in it appearing to have offered the accommodations as a challenge to Fetterman to debate.

"The campaign has been saying lots of things," Oz told Pittsburgh radio station KDKA. "Fetterman should be allowed to recover fully and I will support his ability ... to get ready."

Fetterman also said he looks forward to having a "productive discussion" when Oz and his team "are ready to take this seriously."