John Fetterman Refuses to Address False Attack Ads that Were Pulled from Air

WALLINGFORD, PA - OCTOBER 15: Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate and Lt. Governor John F
Hannah Beier for The Washington Post via Getty Images
Jordan Dixon-Hamilton

During the first and only scheduled Pennsylvania United States Senate debate, Democrat nominee John Fetterman refused to address the pro-Fetterman attack ads against Republican Mehmet Oz that were pulled off the air because they distorted Oz’s position on abortion.

The debate moderators questioned Oz about whether he believes abortion should be banned in the United States. Oz explained that he wants to keep the federal government out of the issue and would rather have the states decide.

“There should not be involvement from the federal government in how states decide their abortion decisions,” Oz said. “As a physician, I’ve been in the room when there’s some difficult conversations happening.”

“I don’t want the federal government involved with that at all. I want women, doctors, local political leaders, letting the democracy that’s always allowed our nation to thrive, to put the best ideas forward, so states can decide for themselves,” he added.

Oz then slammed Fetterman for supporting late-term abortions.

Oz continued:

Contrast that with my opponent, John Fetterman, who on this debate stage said that he would demand federally mandated rules for all states — they’d have to follow — that would allow abortion at 38 weeks — on the delivery table, and he would force it to be subsidized by taxpayers across the country no matter what their personal beliefs are. That’s radical. That’s extreme. That is out of touch with what the average voter in Pennsylvania believes is appropriate.

During his answer, Oz also hammered Fetterman over attack ads that lied about Oz’s abortion stance.

“Now ironically, John Fetterman has been running ads on this topic, dishonest ads. I need to correct the record,” Oz said. “They were so bad they got pulled off television stations. Even on this station he was running dishonest ads that I had pulled off. I haven’t had a single ad pulled down. My ads tell the truth. John Fetterman’s are a fiction of his imagination.”

In July, a pro-Fetterman PAC was caught lying about Oz’s abortion views, which ultimately led to the ad being pulled from local networks.

The National Republican Senate Committee complained that a Planned Parenthood Votes ad erroneously suggested Oz supported a complete ban on abortion, with no exceptions.

Politico reported that a local Philadelphia ABC outlet required the PAC to edit the ad before it could run on their airwaves again.

The moderators offered Fetterman an opportunity to address the false ads after Oz brought them up. But he chose to ignore it, doubling down on his support for “reproductive freedom.”

“I want to look into the face of every woman in Pennsylvania: You know, if you believe that the choice of your reproductive freedom belongs with Dr. Oz, then you have a choice. But if you believe that the choice for abortion belongs between you and your doctor, that’s what I fight for,” Fetterman responded.

“Roe v. Wade for me, is, should be the law. He celebrated when Roe v. Wade went down, and my campaign would fight for Roe v. Wade and, if given the opportunity to, codify it into law,” Fetterman said.

Jordan Dixon-Hamilton is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jdixonhamilton@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter. 

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