Univision willfully spread disinformation in their report on the Pennsylvania Senate debate, by falsely claiming that Dr. Mehmet Oz criticized the state of health of Lt. Gov. John Fetterman.
WATCH the shocking claim, as aired on Univision’s Despierta América, as part of a broader report on the previous evening’s debates:
EDWIN PITTI: Surprisingly, polls continue to shift – making clear that no one has clinched victory.
MEHMET OZ: I believe that we´re the land of opportunity, the land of plenty
JOHN FETTERMAN: My campaign is all about fighting for anyone in Pennsylvania that ever got knocked down
PITTI: The first and only debate for the Senate seat in Pennsylvania devolved into personal attacks. Democrat Lt. Gov. John Fetterman did not commit to release his medical records, having suffered a stroke five months ago.
FETTERMAN: I had a stroke. He´ll never let me forget that, and I might miss some words today, mix some words together, but I´ll not be down, I´m gonna keep on coming back up
PITTI: The Republican candidate, Dr. Mehmet Oz, criticized (Fetterman´s) state of health.
The report included one on-camera quote from Oz, and two from Fetterman. “I believe that we´re the land of opportunity, the land of plenty”, stated Oz; “My campaign is all about fighting for anyone in Pennsylvania that ever got knocked down”, said Fetterman, evidently talking about himself.
But notice how Pitti frames the smear. After the first set of quotes, he says: “The first and only debate for the Senate seat in Pennsylvania devolved into personal attacks.”
The second Fetterman quote, again, focused on his health situation. It is at this point that Pitti then falsely added that “the Republican candidate, Dr. Mehmet Oz, criticized (Fetterman´s) state of health”, followed by a lengthy pause for effect. Interestingly, the alleged criticism was not included in the report, because it did not occur during the debate.
We’ve often said that Spanish-language media are the biggest spreaders of Spanish-language disinformation. With reporting such as this, you can understand why.
Let advertisers like AARP know the bias and falsehoods they enable in the Spanish-speaking media. You can contact them here.
