Pennsylvania Senate showdown: Oz targets Fetterman for not joining Biden on Tuesday

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Republican Senate nominee Mehmet Oz is taking aim at Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman — his Democratic counterpart in the high-profile and high stakes Senate showdown — for not joining President Joe Biden during the president’s stop on Tuesday in the crucial general election battleground state.

But Fetterman’s campaign points out that the lieutenant governor will meet with the president in one week – when both are in Pittsburgh to mark Labor Day.

The Oz campaign on Monday charged in a release that "No-Show John Fetterman strikes again" as it once again criticized the Democratic Senate nominee as he slowly increases his public appearances. Fetterman returned to the campaign trail two and a half weeks ago — at rally in Erie, Pennsylvania — for the first time since suffering a stroke in mid-May.

Fetterman acknowledged at the rally that "three months ago my life could have ended. It's the truth." 

Fetterman has repeatedly aimed to reassure Keystone State voters that he’s healthy enough to run for the Senate.

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Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, the Democratic nominee for the state's U.S. Senate seat, speaks during a rally in Erie, Pa., on Friday, Aug. 12, 2022. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

"Either John Fetterman is not being transparent with the voters about his health or he wants to hide his radical positions on everything from crime to the economy. Dr. Mehmet Oz is showing up for Pennsylvanians while John Fetterman continues to hide from answering for his dangerous, radical policies that will make Pennsylvania less safe," Oz campaign communications director Brittany Yanick argued in a statement.

The president, who’s a Pennsylvania native, heads to Wilkes-Barre on Tuesday to highlight his $37 billion crime fighting and police funding plan aimed at making communities safer amid a surge in violence. Biden canceled the trip last month after testing positive for COVID-19.

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"John will not be at the Wilkes-Barre event with Biden, but he will be marching in the Labor Day parade in Pittsburgh next week, and he looks forward to talking to the president there about the need to finally decriminalize marijuana," Fetterman communications director Joe Calvello told Fox News.

President Joe Biden speaks at the 29th AFL-CIO Quadrennial Constitutional Convention at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia on June 14, 2022. (NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images)

The president will mark Labor Day with stops in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, two key swing states with blockbuster Senate and gubernatorial elections in November’s midterms.

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Fetterman and Oz, the cardiac surgeon and celebrity doctor who until the launch of his Senate campaign late last year was host of TV’s popular "Dr. Oz Show," are running to replace retiring GOP Sen. Pat Toomey. Democrats view Pennsylvania as a top pick-up opportunity, and the race is one of a handful across the country that will decide whether they hold onto their razor-thin Senate majority of if the Republicans regain control of the chamber. 

Mehmet Oz, celebrity physician and US Republican Senate nominee for Pennsylvania, speaks during a town hall in Bell Blue, Pennsylvania, US, on Monday, May 16, 2022.  (Rachel Wisniewski/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Even though he was sidelined for three months, Fetterman holds a healthy advantage over Oz in the race for campaign cash and enjoys a lead in the latest public opinion surveys. A Fox News poll conducted in late July indicated Fetterman with an 11-point lead over Oz and an average of all the most recent surveys indicated Fetterman head by nearly eight points. Fetterman and allied groups also have the upper hand over Oz and his allies in ad spending, and Fetterman’s grabbed national attention for his repeated trolling of Oz over the GOP nominee’s New Jersey roots.

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But Oz has been aggressive in recent weeks in criticizing Fetterman for not committing to a series of debates that Oz has already accepted.

"John Fetterman will not participate," Oz told Fox News last week. "Is he physically unable to? Or is he hiding from his radical record?"

Mehmet Oz, Republican Senate candidate for Pennsylvania, speaks during a campaign event in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, US, on Thursday, June 9, 2022. Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman campaigns for U.S. Senate at a meet and greet at Joseph A. Hardy Connellsville Airport on May 10, 2022 in Lemont Furnace, Pennsylvania. (Hannah Beier/Bloomberg  |  Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

A spokesman for Fetterman responded, telling Fox News that "John is up for debating Oz and contrasting his plans and record with Dr. Oz so that Pennsylvania voters can get a real sense of where the candidates stand—but not on Oz's desperate terms and timeline." 

Fetterman on Monday also took issue with the Oz team’s charge that he’s "refusing to campaign."

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Fetterman’s campaign noted in a press release that their candidate held rallies this past weekend in Mercer and Venango counties, neighboring rural counties in western Pennsylvania.

"Do you think Dr. Oz could get over 400 people out in Mercer County on a Sunday afternoon? Dr. Oz didn't even know that Mercer County existed a year ago," Fetterman argued in a statement.

Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report