Fetterman calls out GOP for conspiracies, shores up pro-police creds in final speech

Democratic Senate hopeful John Fetterman made his closing argument to voters back in Pittsburgh Monday night, casting Republicans as extreme and shoring up his credentials as being pro-police after being hammered by rival Dr. Mehmet Oz on crime.

'How refreshing to have a ticket 100 percent sedition free. On the other side, it's not a bug, it's a feature - all that kind of conspiracy,' said Fetterman, who continues to speak haltingly as he recovers from his May stroke. 

Fetterman was talking about Oz's appearance Saturday in Latrobe, Pennsylvania alongside former President Donald Trump and Pennsylvania's Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano, who was in D.C. on January 6. 

'You cannot stand on the stage to a stronger opponent for abortion rights than Doug Mastriano,' Fetterman also said of the GOP gubernatorial hopeful, which prompted boos from the crowd. 

Oz was able to chip away at Fetterman's large early lead in the race by running ad after ad portraying the Democrat as too liberal on criminal justice reform and among those progressives who want to 'defund the police.' 

Fetterman, again, expressed how he ran for mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania because two of his GED students were gunned down. 

'I was so proud to partner with the police and fund the police,' he said. 

Earlier, Fetterman's wife Gisele - who was introduced as the 'SLOP,' the second lady of Pennsylvania - played up the late breaking endorsement for her husband by D.C. cop Michael Fanone, who's become a household name after he was beaten by the MAGA mob on January 6. 

Democratic Senate hopeful John Fetterman made his closing argument to voters back in Pittsburgh Monday night, casting Republicans as extreme and shoring up his credentials as being pro-police after being hammered by rival Dr. Mehmet Oz on the issue

Democratic Senate hopeful John Fetterman holds up a flag for the carpenters union, which hosted his final campaign event Monday night in Pittsburgh, before voters head to the polls across the U.S. Tuesday 

A line of supporters waits to get into the Carpenters Union Hall in Pittsburgh for Democratic Senate hopeful John Fetterman's final rally before Election Day 

A food truck filled with Fetterman merchandise was parked outside Monday night's rally site. The truck had New Jersey plates with a bumper that was painted to say: 'Look familiar, Dr. Oz?' 

John Fetterman's (left) wife Gisele (right) introduced her husband and highlighted the late breaking endorsement he received from D.C. cop Michael Fanone, who has become an outspoken GOP critic after being beat up by the MAGA mob on January 6 

'Democracy is also on the line,' Gisele Fetterman said. 'And that's why Michael Fanone, a former D.C. police officer who was brutally attacked on January 6 while protecting the U.S. Capitol, has endorsed John.'  

'He knows there's only one candidate in this race who's going to stand up to Trump and stand up for our democracy,' she added. 

Democratic Congressional hopeful Chris Deluzio also tied Republicans to January 6. 

'They wrap themselves in the flag,' Deluzio said. 'It is not patriotic to storm the Capitol with bats and pipes and beat the hell out of cops.' 

Using a classic 'yinzer' insult, Deluzio also said of Republicans: 'These guys are going to be yes men for the corporate jagoffs.' 

Fetterman, for his part, commented that he knew the locals because of their 'Yinz' t-shirts. 

Yinz is the Pittsburgh version of 'ya'll.' 

Much of his speech was what he had delivered for weeks on the stump - championing the 'union way of life,' abortion and gay marriage rights and arguing he's the better fit to represent Pennsylvania because he's spent his life serving others - getting his start helping people get their GEDs. 

'There's no power, there's no prestige, there's no money there,' Fetterman said of his early career.

Fetterman, a York, Pennsylvania native, moved to Pittsburgh after attending graduate school at Harvard and became the mayor of the steel town Braddock, located just outside of Pittsburgh's borders. 

He'll also spend election day in the steel city, though it's unclear if there will be a result by Tuesday night. 

'So in closing - last favor for you - please send me to Washington, D.C. Send him back to New Jersey,' he said of Oz. 

Earlier, Fetterman's campaign sent a memo to reporters Monday morning saying that the vote count in Pennsylvania could take 'several days' in his nail-biting race against Oz. 

'Buckle up for a long week,' said a memo penned by Fetterman's Campaign Manager Brendan McPhillips. 'This race is close, and we should all be prepared for a process that takes several days before all eligible voters are properly counted and the results are clear.' 

Once again, Pennsylvanians are able to use mail-in ballots to cast their votes - and around 1.4 million were requested this election. 

Democratic Senate hopeful John Fetterman's campaign sent a memo to reporters Monday morning saying that the vote count in Pennsylvania could take 'several days' in his nail-biting race against Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz

After Fetterman's rocky debate performance, Pennsylvania's polls have narrowed further, with Oz taking a .1 percent lead in the Real Clear Politics polling average in the last four days, making the race a true toss-up 

According to Spotlight PA, roughly 70 percent of those requests came from registered Democrats. And the biggest share of requests came from Allegheny County, which surrounds Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia. 

Philadelphia's suburban counties, including Bucks, Montgomery and Northampton, came after Allegheny and Philadelphia, in number of mail-in ballots requested. 

Pennsylvania's Republican-dominated legislature imposed a rule that won't allow election workers to start counting the mail-in ballots until 7 a.m. Tuesday morning - meaning results from in-person voting could likely be reported before those ballots that were mailed in. 

Fetterman's campaign called this 'an intentional move to help Republicans baselessly sow doubt about the election results when it suits them.' 

Like in 2020, when former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden were on the ballot, Oz could look drastically ahead of Fetterman on election night, only to have his lead chipped away as more mail-in ballots are counted. 

'Because Pennsylvania is one of the only states that reports Election Day totals first before ballots cast by mail, and because more populated counties around Philadelphia can take longer to report, we should expect one of the most dramatic shifts in the country from initial GOP support in early results to stronger Democratic gains as more votes are processed,' Fetterman's campaign warned.

County officials in Allegheny, Montgomery and Philadelphia Counties told Spotlight PA they expected to be finished counting the mail-in ballots by Wednesday. 

A Bucks County official estimated that counting could be concluded Wednesday or Thursday. 

On top of that, voters have until November 14 in Pennsylvania to 'cure' their ballot and fix some mistakes in order to have it counted. 

Fetterman's campaign manager said the campaign would be reaching out to voters to ensure they know they have this option.  

Last week, the Republican National Committee and other GOP groups were successful in getting Pennsylvania's high court to instruct state election officials not to count ballots that are undated. 

When voters fill out their mail-in ballots they must sign and date the back of the envelope before sending it in. 

Both Allegheny County and Philadelphia County have publicly released a list of voters' names whose ballots have been received but may not be counted due to this court requirement. 

Election officials have advised these voters to come to the county election offices to cure their ballot, request a new mail-in ballot or vote by provisional ballot on election day to fix these mistakes. 

In Latrobe, Pennsylvania on Saturday, Trump already began stoking fears that the election would once be 'stolen' from Oz and GOP gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano, who has been behind in the polls for months. 

Trump expressed in Iowa on Thursday that all voting should be done in-person, on Election Day using paper ballots - the only way to guarantee there would be no fraud. 

After Fetterman's rocky debate performance, Pennsylvania's polls have narrowed further, with Oz taking a .1 percent lead in the Real Clear Politics polling average in the last four days. 

This makes the race a true toss-up, as droves of Pennsylvanians votes had already been cast by the time Fetterman and Oz met on the debate stage.