Dr. Mehmet Oz had a tumultuous trip to the GOP nomination to become the next senator from Pennsylvania. One of his primary opponents, Kathy Barnette, has stupidly and stubbornly refused to endorse him. Yet, for the most part, his critics (including me) have done the smart thing and let the chips fall. Once Oz became the nominee, he became exponentially preferable to his Democrat opponent, John Fetterman.

Yet, while the spotlight has remained on Oz, with much second-guessing about how well he’s running his campaign, perhaps the attention should turn towards Fetterman? We know he had a stroke and has a serious heart condition, something he claimed was no big deal at the time. According to a new report from The New York Times, though, it sure seems like he was lying when he said he’ll be able to serve with no problem.

#PASEN nugget on John Fetterman's health (via WaPo): "The Democrat has struggled to regain the ability to speak fluidly but is expected to resume campaign events in the coming weeks."https://t.co/7uX6roLhhR

— Josh Kraushaar (@JoshKraushaar) July 11, 2022

You have to love how the Times just glosses over that extremely important, make-or-break detail. They frame everything in the article as bad news for the GOP while just casually tossing in “Oh yeah, the Democrat in Pennsylvania lied about his health and is so bad off he still slurs his speech.” But he is “expected to resume campaign events in the coming weeks,” they proclaim.

Expected by who? He hasn’t done a public event since early May before his health crisis. And what exactly does “coming weeks” mean? The election is in the coming weeks depending on how you define the phrase. Is Fetterman going to continue to hide out until November, having a campaign that revolves around Twitter slams? If he’s still slurring his speech, he’s not close to being fully recovered, and that’s putting aside the fact that his condition looks tenuous enough to be a constant concern regardless of whether he returns to the campaign trail or not.

Fetterman is not a healthy man. He’s morbidly obese and it’s clearly had an extremely negative effect on his body. I think it’s time for Oz to take the gloves off and start talking about his opponent’s unfitness for office. That topic is in no way off-limits. In fact, it’s imperative that voters understand how serious it is to possibly elect a man who has a heart condition that could take him out at any time. Never mind that Fetterman ignored his doctors for years, leading him to this point. That alone is a testament to his lack of judgment.

Right now, Fetterman’s entire campaign is smoke and mirrors. He’s managed to convince the too-online resistance types that he’s going to beat Oz with nothing but snarky posts on social media. But it’s not 2020 anymore, and Fetterman isn’t Joe Biden. He can’t just hide in the basement until election day, and the longer this drags on, the more voters are going to notice he’s not up for the job.