HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — More than five months after experiencing a stroke, Pennsylvania Democrat John Fetterman struggled at times to explain his positions and often spoke haltingly throughout a highly anticipated debate Tuesday against Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz as they vie for a critical Senate seat. In the opening minutes of the debate, Fetterman addressed what he called the “elephant in the room.” “I had a stroke. He’s never let me forget that,” Fetterman said of Oz, who has persistently questioned his ability to serve in the Senate. “And I might miss some words during this debate, mush two words together, but it knocked me down and I’m going to keep coming back up.” When pressed to release his medical records later in the debate, he refused to commit. Oz, a celebrity heart surgeon, ignored his opponent’s health challenges throughout the debate, instead seizing on Fetterman’s policies on immigration and crime and his support for President Joe Biden. At one point, Oz said Fetterman, the state’s lieutenant governor, was “trying to get as many murderers out of jail as possible.” “His extreme positions have made him untenable,” he charged. The forum had many of the trappings of a traditional debate, complete with heated exchanges and interruptions. But the impact of the stroke was apparent as Fetterman used closed-captioning posted above the moderator to help him process the words he heard, leading to occasional awkward pauses.