Fetterman cites caption errors, organizers say he opted out of rehearsal
Caitlyn Shelton | OCT 25, 2022 / 10:12 PM CDT | Updated: OCT 26, 2022 / 07:56 AM CDT(NewsNation) — After Pennsylvania Senate candidate John Fetterman had difficulty speaking during his highly anticipated debate with Mehmet Oz, the stroke survivor’s campaign blamed the caption system provided for him as being “delayed” and “filled with errors.”
Nexstar’s communications chief said both candidates were given a chance to test the system twice, but Fetterman chose to only do one rehearsal.
Fetterman is still recovering from a stroke he suffered in May. The debate included closed captioning as an accommodation. Ahead of the debate, both campaigns agreed to have everything the moderators and Oz said typed out on a large screen by captioners providing live transcriptions.
Following the debate aired nationally by NewsNation, Fetterman’s campaign claimed the Pennsylvania lieutenant governor overcame a slow and incorrect captioning system.
“We are thrilled with John’s performance. He did remarkably well tonight – especially when you consider that he’s still recovering from a stroke and was working off of delayed captions filled with errors. John won countless exchanges, counter-punched aggressively, and pushed back on Oz’s cruelty and attacks,” Fetterman for Pennsylvania communications director Joe Calvello said.
Nexstar’s Chief Communications Officer Gary Weitman said in a statement:
“It is unfortunate that Mr. Fetterman is now criticizing the closed captioning process employed by Nexstar during tonight’s debate. Both candidates agreed to the technical set-up for the closed captioning process weeks ago, which was implemented at the request of the Fetterman campaign.
Both candidates were offered the opportunity for two full rehearsals with the same equipment used in tonight’s debate; Mr. Fetterman chose to do only one. In fact, Nexstar’s production team went to extraordinary lengths to ensure the effectiveness of the closed captioning process, and to accommodate several last-minute requests of the Fetterman campaign. The closed captioning process functioned as expected during rehearsal and again during tonight’s debate. We regret that Mr. Fetterman and his campaign feel otherwise.”
https://www.newsnationnow.com/politics/elections-2022/pennsylvania-2022-midterm-election/nexstar-refutes-fetterman-campaigns-debate-caption-criticisms/
This company bent over backwards to accommodate Fetterman. Yet they are now being thrown under the bus?