The campaign for Dr. Mehmet Oz, the Republican nominee in Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate race, said in a statement Tuesday that his opponent, John Fetterman, might not have suffered a stroke if he ate healthier. 

The comment drew a swift, angry response on social media and from Fetterman himself, raising questions about whether Oz crossed a line, even in the rough and tumble world of politics, by mocking someone’s health.

In a statement to Insider, Rachel Tripp, Oz’s senior communications adviser said: "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,"

Fetterman, Pennsylvania’s Democratic lieutenant governor, suffered a stroke in May, just days before the Democratic primary. He returned to the campaign trail earlier this month.

Fetterman respond to the Oz campaign’s comment on Twitter, saying: “I had a stroke. I survived it. I know politics can be nasty, but even then, I could never imagine ridiculing someone for their health challenges.”

It was hard to finding anyone on Twitter sticking up for Oz on Wednesdsay. “Don’t blame stroke victims or anyone else for their medical woes. ,” one person wrote. Another tweeted, “How can a cardiothoracic surgeon be so callous and cruel?”

The Oz campaign, however, didn’t back down from their comments, later issuing ABC News a different statement that said: "Nice try. Dr. Oz has been urging people to eat more veggies for years. That's not ridicule. It's good health advice. We're only trying to help.”

And an Oz campaign adviser, Barney Keller, said Oz and his team are simply giving Fetterman “good health advice” to eat vegetables.

The salvo from the Oz campaign was in response to a tweet by Fetterman last week that sought to paint Oz as a carpetbagger. In it, Fetterman resurfaces a video of Oz at a supermarket complaining about rising food prices.

“That’s $20 for crudite!” Oz says in the video as he picks out items in the produce section. 

“In PA we call this a... veggie tray,” Fetterman tweeted in response.

The tweet has received more than 73,000 likes, and the Fetterman campaign says it has raised more than half a million dollars in donations.

Fetterman, who is 6 feet 9 inches tall, once weighed more than 400 pounds, but he lost nearly 150 pounds. 

Fetterman’s cardiologist said in June atrial fibrillation — an irregular heart rhythm — caused the Senate candidate’s stroke. Dr. Ramesh Chandra also said Fetterman suffers from cardiomyopathy — a disease of the heart muscle that makes it harder for the organ to pump blood to the body —  which led doctors to implant a pacemaker following the stroke. 

Recent polls have shown Fetterman with a lead over Oz anywhere from 4 to 11 percentage points. The race is being closely watched nationally because it could potentially decide which party controls the Senate.