PITTSBURGH — Pennsylvania senate candidate John Fetterman made a stop in Pittsburgh today, with the 2022 midterm elections just 40 days away.
Fetterman rallied in the rain at the city’s strip district around noon Saturday. According to the Fetterman campaign, over 600 supporters attended the rally.
According to our partners at TribLIVE.com, Fetterman spoke for 12 minutes.
In that time, Fetterman addressed his stroke recovery. He said from time to time he will sometimes have some auditory processing issues or miss some words.
Fetterman went on to criticize the Mehmet Oz campaign, which has been calling on him to release his health records to prove he is fit to run for Senate. Fetterman criticized Oz for calling out his stroke recovery efforts.
Another key component of Fetterman’s speech was the topic of abortion. Fetterman tied Oz to Doug Mastriano, the Republican gubernatorial candidate, who has said he wants to ban abortion. He said he wants to work to codify abortion protection into federal law.
Fetterman retaliated against claims made by the Oz campaign that he is too lenient on crime. Fetterman used his 12-year period as mayor of Braddock to dispute those arguments.
“We fought to make Braddock a safer community, and I did that,” Fetterman said.
He said the borough of Braddock saw no gun death for over five years, during a portion of his time in the position.
Fetterman also mentioned the ideas of supporting an increase in the minimum wage, blocking any right-to-work laws, lowering the costs of prescription drugs and protecting same-sex marriage rights.
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey and former Pittsburgh Steeler Franco Harris joined in on the rally today.
“This is the most important race in the history of Pennsylvania,” said Gainey. “We got someone that’s on the opposite side that’s so extreme, they want to take us back to yesterday.”
State Rep. Summer Lee, U.S. representative Connor Lamb and United Steel Workers District 10 president Bernie Hall were also at the rally.
“There is a movement here in Pittsburgh … with our candidate John Fetterman, we are about to build the strongest labor movement in Pittsburgh,” Lee said.
Fetterman’s opponent, Oz, held a press conference in downtown Pittsburgh the day before the rally. Click here to read about Oz’s conference.
Fetterman and Oz will have a debate on Tuesday, Oct. 25 on Channel 11.
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