Fetterman agrees to one debate with GOP rival Oz in Pennsylvania Senate contest

Pennsylvania Democrat Senate nominee John Fetterman has agreed to one debate with GOP rival Dr. Mehmet Oz, amid efforts to recover from a mid-May stroke, in a key general election race that will help determine whose political party will next control the Senate.

"We’re absolutely going to debate Dr. Oz, and that was really always our intent to do that," Fetterman told the news outlet Politico on Wednesday. "It was just simply only ever been about addressing some of the lingering issues of the stroke, the auditory processing, and we’re going to be able to work that out."

Oz has been pressuring Fetterman to agree to a series of debates beginning in early September. The medical doctor has said he understands his political opponent's health condition but also accuses him of being unwilling to defend his liberal policies and campaign platform. 

Fetterman declined to say which among the proposed debates he will attend or provide an exact date. However, he also told Politico the lone debate will be "sometime in the middle to end of October" on a "major television station" in the state.

He also said his campaign is considering using a closed captioning monitor for the debate so that he does not miss any words as he continues to recover from his stroke.

Fetterman and his campaign in recent weeks rejected debates with Oz and his campaign, saying the accommodations they offered weren’t serious. 

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s editorial board said this week that if Fetterman "is not well enough to debate his opponent, that raises serious concerns about his ability to serve as a United States senator."

The newspaper also criticized the Oz campaign's "antics" related to debate negotiations.