The most off-the-rails moments of the 2022 debates
Some of the highlights of a wild year of debates in Senate and governor's contests across the country.
The 2022 election cycle has seen wild debates with off-the-rails moments, props, inarticulate answers and even "goodnight" being used to welcome viewers, with some gaffes going viral and other moments becoming noteworthy because of the political impact.
Strategic communications specialist Brett O’Donnell, the president of O’Donnell & Associates who serves as a messaging strategist for lawmakers, believes some debate moments can resonate with Americans while others fall flat.
"For instance, with the [John] Fetterman-[Mehmet] Oz debate or the [Raphael] Warnock-[Herschel] Walker debate, there were a lot of expectations set around those debates. In the Fetterman case, the questions of would he debate or not and how he would perform given his condition all set huge expectations, so it caused folks to watch it," O’Donnell told Fox News Digital.
"And then there was a question about whether Walker was up to the task. In the Walker instance, he met those expectations and surpassed them," O’Donnell continued. "So, that got talked about a great deal. In the Fetterman debate, even though the expectations were very low, people wanted to see what would happen with him, and he fell even lower and fell flat on those expectations."
The results of the much-anticipated showdowns were several memorable moments that could very well tip the scales on Election Day.
"That’s the other thing that causes debates to live on," O’Donnell said.
"Debates are really about two things. A candidates’ ability to drive [the] message, which is what gets picked up in the normal press coverage of the debates, and then their ability to drive moments in the debate that stick out apart from the rest of the debate that caused them to get increased media attention."
Here are 10 of the most news-making moments of the 2022 midterm debates:
Fetterman struggles in ‘train-wreck’ debate performance
Pennsylvania Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman, who is suffering lingering side effects from his stroke in May, had a hard time articulating coherent answers in his debate against Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz.
Fetterman’s performance was labeled everything from "a train-wreck" to the "most bizarre such encounter in living memory." Perhaps his worst moment was a stumble when asked about prior statements he made in opposition to fracking, a process he now says he has "always supported."
Pressed on the issue and how to "square" his previous comments against fracking with his current position, Fetterman said, "I do support fracking, and I don’t, I don’t — I support fracking, and I stand, and I do support fracking."
Social media exploded when Fetterman, who also kicked off the debate by saying "goodnight" to the audience, failed to explain the sudden about-face.
Pennsylvania Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman participates in a debate with GOP challenger Dr. Mehmet Oz on Oct. 25, 2022, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. (NewsNation)
PENNSYLVANIA SENATE DEBATE: OZ, FETTERMAN SPAR OVER ABORTION, DEM WON'T SAY WHEN LIMITS SHOULD BE
Oz makes abortion ‘gaffe’
On the issue of abortion, Fetterman said the procedure should be legalized by Congress while Oz said there should be a conversation between "a woman, her doctor [and] local political leaders."
"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 are 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."
Fetterman's communications director later called it one of the "biggest gaffes" of the night.
Walker forced to put away "prop" badge
Herschel Walker, the Republican Senate nominee in Georgia who’s challenging Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock in a crucial battleground state Senate showdown, raised eyebrows when he flashed an honorary police badge when the debate rules prohibited any props.
"I am with many police officers," Walker said as he unveiled the badge.
The moderator shot back, "You have a prop. That is not allowed, sir. I ask you to put that prop away."
Walker insisted it was "real" and not a prop.
Abrams slams Georgia sheriffs as ‘good ol’ boys club’
Georgia Democratic gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams took a shot at county sheriffs throughout the state while proclaiming her support of law enforcement during a Sunday night debate against Republican Gov. Brian Kemp.
During an exchange between the two, Kemp attacked Abrams for past comments she’s made that seemed to suggest that she supported defunding the police, despite never explicitly stating it. Kemp mentioned his endorsement of 107 county sheriffs across Georgia, and Abrams shot back that she was not a member of the "good ol’ boys club" of 107 sheriffs who she said "want to be able to take Black people off the streets, who want to be able to go without accountability."
She then qualified her statement, saying she didn’t believe "every sheriff wants that."
Hochul asks Lee Zeldin why crime is so important to him
New York's Republican gubernatorial hopeful, Lee Zeldin, wrangled with incumbent Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul in a primetime debate last week over rising crime and the ongoing surge of violence plaguing the state's residents.
Zeldin opened the debate by declaring New York was "in a crisis" because of Hochul's leadership, and he blasted policies like cashless bail and said soft-on-crime approaches have resulted in New Yorkers feeling unsafe. Hochul dismissed Zeldin's focus on crime and bail policies as a political scare tactic.
"Anyone who commits a crime under our laws, especially with the change they made to bail, has consequences. I don't know why that's so important to you," Hochul said at one point before stating that to reduce crime the state should increase gun control.
Crist asks Gov. DeSantis if he plans to stick around
Another viral moment occurred during the fiery Florida gubernatorial debate between Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his Democratic challenger Charlie Crist.
Crist directly challenged DeSantis, who has generated a ton of 2024 buzz, to commit to serving all four years of a second term if re-elected. DeSantis refrained from responding while abiding to the debate rules that the candidates cannot pose questions to each other, only to say, "The only worn-out old donkey I'm looking to put out to pasture is Charlie Crist."
Many believed DeSantis should have had a better response to the "inevitable question" about a potential White House run, but conservatives celebrated his slam on Crist, who has made two failed bids for Florida statewide office since his single term as governor from 2007 to 2011.
Crist defends gender-transition surgeries for minors
During the same debate, Crist defended gender-transition surgeries for minors, prompting a response from DeSantis.
"When they say gender-affirming care, they mean giving puberty blockers to teenage girls and teenage boys, they mean doing double mastectomies on young girls, they mean chemically castrating young boys. That is wrong. We are not going to allow that to happen in the state of Florida," DeSantis said when the candidates were asked by the moderator where they stood on "gender-affirming medical procedures and therapies."
"We're doing the right thing. It's inappropriate to be doing basically what's genital mutilation," he later added, citing Florida's attempts to restrict such procedures.
Crist lashed out at DeSantis, likening restrictions keeping minors from undergoing such procedures to keeping women from having an abortion.
"This reminds me of your position on a woman's right to choose. You think you know better than any physician, any doctor or any woman in a position to make decisions about their own personal health. You want to be the judge. You want to decide about what people should do with their own physical being, with the betterment of their health, with whether or not they want to make sure that they can practice their right to choose as a woman. That's just not right. I don't believe in that," Crist said." We're all children of God, and that doesn't mean that you're the one who's supposed to judge about what other people are supposed to do, particularly women, with their body."
DeSantis pushed back, arguing young teens weren't in a position to know enough to make such a decision.
GEORGIA SENATE CANDIDATES CLASH ON DEBATE STAGE DURING THEIR ONLY FACE-OFF AHEAD OF MIDTERMS
Colorado Senate debate explodes as Bennet tells O'Dea, 'You're a liar'
Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., accused Republican opponent Joe O'Dea of being a "liar" after O'Dea sought to portray his record in Washington as ineffective and closely aligned with President Joe Biden and national Democrats.
"Joe, you know that your assertion that I've only passed one bill in the time I've been in the Senate … you've said it over and over again, it's been fact-checked as false over and over again, you're running a TV ad saying it over and over again," Bennet said during a part of the debate when the candidates asked each other questions.
"Tell me what that means to you," Bennet said.
"It just goes to your effectiveness. You're ineffective," O'Dea responded.
As Bennet attempted to get a better answer, O'Dea dismissed the senator, repeating that he found him ineffective.
"You're a liar, Joe," Bennet repeated over protestations from O'Dea. "You're a liar, Joe."
BARACK OBAMA, IN GEORGIA, CALLS HERSCHEL WALKER A ‘CELEBRITY WHO WANTS TO BE A POLITICIAN’
Gov. Abbott accuses O’Rourke of wanting to ‘perpetuate the open border policies’
Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott scolded Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke for wanting to "perpetuate the open border policies" that have resulted in a crisis along the southern border.
"It's clear that Beto just wants to perpetuate the open border policies and mischaracterize exactly what is going on," Abbott said during the debate.
Murkowski expresses support for ‘codification of Roe v. Wade’ with limitations
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a moderate Republican that often votes with Democrats, said she would support the "codification of Roe v. Wade" with limitations during the Alaska Senate debate.
"We cannot go back 50 years," Murkowski said, referencing the 1973 decision. "But abortion should not be without limitation."
She also said she would support any bipartisan effort that includes a provision that would allow health care workers to object to performing abortions based on their religion or conscience.
Fox News’ Joseph A. Wulfsohn, Lawrence Richard, Timothy H.J. Nerozzi, Bradford Betz, Brandon Gillespie and Kyle Morris contributed to this report.