“I just felt so grateful and I’m so lucky,” he said Friday night in an 11-minute speech that stopped at times to 1,400 supporters. Fetterman, the Democratic nominee in a U.S. Senate race for the open seat of outgoing GOP Sen. Pat Tomei, has faced mounting pressure from his Republican opponent, renowned surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz, to show voters that he is healthy enough to serve in Congress. Fetterman was greeted by 1,400 supporters in his first campaign in three months. AP Oz challenged Fetterman to a series of five debates earlier Friday — an offer Fetterman’s team reportedly rejected. During his speech, Fetterman, wearing his trademark black hoodie, avoided specific politics, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported, focusing mostly on his recovery. “Tomorrow. Tomorrow, three months ago, three months ago, my life could have been over,” he said as he thanked his wife Gisele, standing by his side on stage, for recognizing his stroke symptoms and rushed to a nearby hospital. Pennsylvania Senate hopeful John Fetterman returned to the campaign trail this weekend after suffering a stroke three months ago. APDr. Oz trails Fetterman in the polls by 11%. AP But he also took some swipes at his opponent, according to his social media posts that mostly consisted of mocking Oz on Twitter. “Do you think Dr. Oz could fill a room like this?” he asked the crowd. “He doesn’t live here,” Fetterman said of Oz, a former New Jersey resident. “It’s not for us. He doesn’t care about us.” A Fox News poll released July 28 found Fetterman with an 11-point lead over his GOP challenger among registered Pennsylvania voters, with 13 percent undecided.
