Fact-check of the Pennsylvania U.S. Senate debate between John Fetterman and Mehmet Oz
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Jeremy Long/WITF
Republican US Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz and his democratic opponent Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman squared off in their only scheduled face-to-face debate on Tuesday.
Fetterman and Oz debated for one hour to convince voters that they should replace U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey in Washington, D.C.
WITF’s Democracy Beat reporter Robby Brod and WHYY’s Kenny Cooper-fact checked the candidates during the debate.
Coverage of the debate was in partnership with America Amplified, a CPB-funded initiative to support community engaged journalism in public media.
Fact-checking Dr. Oz’s claims:
Oz’s claim: Fetterman wants to “legalize all drugs.”
Context: In 2015, Fetterman told The Nation that he wanted to “decriminalize” all drugs — which is different from legalizing. He has backed away from this stance in regards to “hard drugs.”
Source:https://t.co/1SsrVB6ENY
— Kenny Cooper (@Kenny_Cooper_Jr) October 26, 2022
More: Section 1302 says Council has the power to levy taxes.
— Kenny Cooper (@Kenny_Cooper_Jr) October 26, 2022
Oz’s claim: “Most women” do not believe that we should federally codify abortion.
Context: Pew Research shows that a majority of women (63%) believe abortion should be legal in most or all cases.
Source:https://t.co/OyTNA1YG1b
— Kenny Cooper (@Kenny_Cooper_Jr) October 26, 2022
Source: https://t.co/Cu0pPdqErh
— Kenny Cooper (@Kenny_Cooper_Jr) October 26, 2022
Oz’s claim: He has the support of Braddock’s police union.
Braddock is in Allegheny County. The Allegheny County FOP lodge has announced its support for Oz.
Source:https://t.co/gK2g9bZLjN
— Kenny Cooper (@Kenny_Cooper_Jr) October 26, 2022
Oz’s claim: The crime wave has been “facilitated by [left-wing] radical policies.”
This has been debunked before. Many…many factors contribute to changes in crime statistics.
Source:https://t.co/oBj2T4NdlF
— Kenny Cooper (@Kenny_Cooper_Jr) October 26, 2022
Fact-checking John Fetterman’s claims:
#Fetterman: #Oz spent more than $20 million on his own campaign. This is true. As of last week, Oz spent $22 million. #PaSenateDebate @WITFnews https://t.co/a3xQQ6ZXaJ
— Robby Brod (@RobbyBrod) October 26, 2022
#Fetterman: Inflation has hurt Americans and given oil companies record profits.
This is true. According to the California Energy Commission: “Eight of the biggest oil companies in the world posted record-breaking second quarter 2022 profits.” https://t.co/GSBdWPu8yh.
— Robby Brod (@RobbyBrod) October 26, 2022
#Fetterman, responding to being associated with Bernie Sanders: #Oz was hugging Bernie Sanders on his show three years ago.
This… is actually true. Though, it was a TV hug. @witfnews #PaSenateDebate https://t.co/6JY8Us5vyx
— Robby Brod (@RobbyBrod) October 26, 2022
#Fetterman: #Oz would’ve voted against the Inflation Reduction Act.
Partly true. We can’t predict how Oz would’ve voted, but he did say he was “concerned” about what he saw in an early draft of the bill. @witfnews #PaSenateDebate https://t.co/bLbi31ODZT
— Robby Brod (@RobbyBrod) October 26, 2022
And with that, the #PaSenateDebate comes to an end. Lots to digest. Missed any of it? Read through our live coverage below.
And if you’re not already, give my wonderful colleague @Kenny_Cooper_Jr a follow! https://t.co/6Ev4DlhkOp
— Robby Brod (@RobbyBrod) October 26, 2022
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