U.S. Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) argued on Sunday that President Joe Biden can recover from his debate performance that has Democrats questioning his candidacy, with the Pennsylvania Democrat noting his own 2022 victory followed a difficult debate against former Republican U.S. Senate nominee Dr. Mehmet Oz.
Fetterman argued on “Fox News Sunday” that Biden will recover from his poor debate performance, which left some Democrats questioning whether he should be replaced as the party’s nominee.
“There was that same kind of a freakout after my debate, and in fact, I might even say that I had a more difficult evening than the president did, and here I am right now having this conversation.” Fetterman argued that Biden is the only person that’s ever beaten Trump,” and claimed the 81-year-old president “will do that again despite all of the Democrats wetting the bed over” the debate.
Still, when host Shannon Bream noted Fetterman’s recovery following a stroke, and noted Biden’s advanced age, the senator deflected to his 2022 debate performance against Oz.
Fetterman argued, “We both had a difficult debate. Yet we still managed to go on to win.”
He noted, “everybody was calling that was 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.”
Fetterman went on to win against Oz by about five percent, attaining nearly 100,000 more votes than the Republican.
The Democrat also suggested Biden’s poor debate will have as much sway with his supporters as the recent criminal conviction of Trump in New York, but said he nonetheless predicts the race will be “very close.”
“I said this in 2016, that it’s going to be very close. I’ve said this in 2020, and I’m saying it consistently through this race now, it’s going to be very close.” Fetterman later told Bream, “I really do want to be clear, it’s going to be very close.”
When asked about recent polls, which show Biden trailing or tied with Trump, the senator again pointed to his own race against Oz.
“The only poll that’s really going to matter is election day,” argued Fetterman. “The polls changed and they inverted in my race as well, and here I am as United States Senator.”
He also argued, “one debate does not define a person’s record, or a person’s record, or the situation,” or “an election that is four and a half months to go.”
Fetterman’s decision to stick with Biden comes after pollsters found 63 percent of voters who watched Biden’s first debate against Trump want the president to be replaced.
Specifically, 50 percent of Democrats, 62 percent of independents and 75 percent of Republicans said Biden’s performance on Thursday means Democrats should find another candidate.
Republican U.S. Senate nominee Dave McCormick, who is running against Senator Bob Casey, went further on Friday, when he argued the president’s cabinet must consider whether Biden’s performance triggers its “responsibility” to remove the president using the 25th Amendment.
Watch Fetterman’s full appearance on “Fox News Sunday”:
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Image “Sen. John Fetterman” by Sen. John Fetterman.
