One of the Senate races drawing national attention is between a former TV host and the current lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania.
Almost from the outset the campaigns of Ohio born, longtime New Jersey resident, Trump endorsed Republican Mehmet Oz and Pennsylvania born and raised Democratic Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman played out in social media quips and jabs.
In the latest salvo of the conflict, Oz's campaign decided to take a swipe at Fetterman's health. In May, the Democratic candidate suffered a stroke that's kept his travel limited.
Oz was recently mocked online for a video he posted in April about the price of groceries and crudité. Fetterman responded to the multimillionaire by stating in Pennsylvania crudité is called a "veggie tray."
In an interview with Insider, Oz's senior communications advisor Rachel Tripp responded:
"If John Fetterman had ever eaten a vegetable in his life, then maybe he wouldn't have had a major stroke and wouldn't be in the position of having to lie about it constantly."
Fetterman responded almost immediately on Twitter.
He tweeted a screenshot of the Insider article with the caption:
"I had a stroke."
"I survived it."
"I'm truly so grateful to still be here today."
"I know politics can be nasty, but even then, I could *never* imagine ridiculing someone for their health challenges."
People concurred with Fetterman's view of the official statement by the Oz campaign.
Over 100 Pennsylvania doctors addressed the veggie eating jab.
Others called out the official statement as classless and cruel.
Oz won the Pennsylvania GOP Senate primary in May by just 951 votes for about 31% of Republican voters.
While former Republican President Donald Trump threw his support behind the former TV host, GOP leadership chose established Pennsylvania Republican David McCormick. They along with Kathy Barnette split the vote three ways for a very close race.
Fetterman defeated three challengers from his hospital bed—having suffered a stroke 2 days prior to the primary—taking a definitive 59% of the Democratic vote.
How the pair fare in the general election is still anyone's guess, but Fetterman is currently leading in the polls.
The November midterms are slated for Tuesday, November 8, 2022.
