Marley Parish, Pennsylvania Capital-Star

The mudslinging between U.S. Senate candidates Lt. Gov. John Fetterman and Mehmet Oz escalated this week, with the celebrity doctor turned political candidate making jabs about his opponent’s health.

“If John Fetterman had ever eaten a vegetable in his life, then maybe he wouldn’t have had a major stroke and wouldn’t be in the position of having to lie about it constantly,” Rachel Tripp, Oz’s senior communications advisor, told Business Insider in a statement.

Fetterman, 53, suffered a stroke in May, leaving him physically absent from the campaign trail until two weeks ago. He later admitted that he didn’t see his doctor for five years, stopped taking his medications, and announced that he had a previously undisclosed heart condition that prompted doctors to implant a pacemaker with a defibrillator. ...

The Democratic and Republican nominees in Pennsylvania’s race have had no problems going head-to-head online, using their respective platforms to promote policy, troll each other, and fundraise.

But their approaches have led to different results in the race to replace retiring GOP U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey.

“Its presence has steadily risen over the past 15 years, in particular, as a cornerstone element of campaigns,” Christopher Borick, a political science professor at Muhlenberg College, said of social media. “And as the electorate changes with younger voters continually coming into the mix — as a group who uses social media extensively — the expectations on campaigns to ramp up in that realm has risen. And we can see that playing out right now.” ...

Since suffering a stroke and undergoing a surgical procedure to implant a pacemaker with a defibrillator in May, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman — the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania — will return to the campaign trail this week.

Fetterman, 52, is expected to make his first major appearance at a fundraiser with the Democratic Jewish Outreach in Philadelphia on Thursday night, a campaign spokesperson told the Capital-Star.

“John is feeling really well and doing well,” Joe Calvello, the campaign’s communications director, said. “He is ready to flip this seat blue. And he is putting in the work to do so. He is so thankful for the people of Pennsylvania who have been so supportive.” ...

In the days leading up to the Jan. 6, 2020, attack on the U.S. Capitol, U.S. Rep. Scott Perry(R-PA) pushed to restructure the Department of Justice as former President Donald Trump and his allies led efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

The U.S. House committee investigating the Capitol riot subpoenaed Perry, R-10th District, last year, citing his involvement in attempts to appoint Jeffrey Clark as acting attorney general.

Clark, a former Justice Department official, played a role in Trump’s false claims that voter fraud in swing states, specifically Georgia, contributed to his loss against now-President Joe Biden....

Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman — also the Democratic U.S. Senate nominee — who suffered a stroke last month also had a previously undisclosed heart condition that prompted doctors to implant a pacemaker with a defibrillator into his heart.

His campaign released a letter from a doctor on Friday afternoon, saying that Fetterman, 52, has cardiomyopathy, which makes it difficult for the heart to pump blood. The statement was the first public comment made by a doctor for Fetterman since he disclosed the stroke on May 15.

Ramesh R. Chandra, a cardiologist at Alliance Cardiology, said Fetterman should be able to campaign and serve in elected office as long as he takes his medications, eats healthy, and exercises. ...