The major newspaper in Allegheny County, where Pennsylvania Senate candidate John Fetterman’s adopted hometown is situated, recently endorsed the Democrat’s opponent, Mehmet Oz.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, which shares a heavily blue county with Braddock, wrote: “Mr. Fetterman’s health — he suffered a serious stroke in May — is not the issue. His lack of transparency, however, in refusing to release his medical records is troubling. It suggests an impulse to conceal and a mistrust of the people. All candidates for a major elected office should release their medical records, as did Mr. Oz. If you want privacy, don’t run for public office.”
The endorsement comes after the first and only debate between the two Senate candidates showed Fetterman at times seeming confused and struggling to answer some questions, despite relying on closed captioning for what he has said are lingering auditory processing issues from a stroke he suffered in May.
“Mr. Fetterman’s life experience and maturity are also concerns,” the editorial adds. “He has lived off his family’s money for much of his life. That has allowed him to do some good things, including mentoring disadvantaged young people and working to improve community policing and economic development in Braddock.”
However, the paper notes, Fetterman “has little experience in holding real jobs or facing the problems of working people.”
The paper also noted Fetterman’s lack of apology for pulling a shotgun on an unarmed black jogger in 2013 as a point of concern, saying that while “It was, we believe, an honest mistake,” that “it’s troubling that Mr. Fetterman never apologized for it.”
Fetterman also falsely suggested during the debate last week that he always supported fracking, despite saying the opposite in 2018, the paper notes.
Oz told Fox News the Post-Gazette is a “fabulous paper” and said it would not normally endorse a Republican.
“But God bless them… they’ve had enough as well – they’re a big paper in Pittsburgh,” he said.
Oz, the paper notes, despite being “extraordinarily wealthy” achieved “his worldwide fame and success largely through his own talent and determination.”
“He is more moderate on some issues than portrayed,” the editorial adds.”We don’t believe he will be a stooge for the far right or Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. We hope that Mr. Oz will disappoint them and serve in the Pennsylvania tradition of moderate Republicans, such U.S. Sens. John Heinz, Hugh Scott, and Richard Schweiker.”