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In April, President Donald Trump strongly endorsed Dr. Mehmet Oz in his upcoming senate primary race in Pennsylvania, calling him “brilliant,” “respected,” and “smart.”
Much to the surprise of many hardline conservative voters, the popular daytime television personality, better known as “Dr. Oz,” launched his Senate campaign in November 2021, stating that he was doing so because “America needs a Conservative Republican to cure what’s wrong with Washington.”
Many Americans are familiar with Oz simply because of his daytime talk show, “The Dr. Oz Show,” and his entrance into a Senate race in the Keystone State has posed many questions. Some Republican voters are unhappy with Oz’s stated intent to “put America first” due to his murky political past.
For example, Fox News reported that Oz has previously supported red-flag gun control laws and was involved in the “This is Our Lane” campaign, an initiative that sought to impose greater restrictions on guns purchased in the U.S.
However, Oz now asserts that he strongly supports the Second Amendment, even stating in April that he will “never back down from the fight to protect our Second Amendment Rights.” Oz even went so far as to release a political campaign ad that features him handling a firearm and shooting targets. “As your next U.S. Senator,” Oz stated in the commercial,” I will fight for our constitutional rights.”
Additionally, Oz’s stance on controversial issues of social justice policy has left some Pennsylvania voters feeling shaky about casting their vote for the doctor. Breitbart reported in March that Oz has a history of providing a platform for transgender parents and children on his show. Additionally, Dr. Oz featured a “Transgender Kids” special on his program in 2010.
Oz poses a problem for Republican voters concerned about the transgender agenda in schools and sports teams. He has not exactly rejected the left’s progressive ideology on transgenderism. However, he has made it clear that he disagrees with the concept of men playing on women’s sports teams, according to Breitbart. “That’s not fair,” he said.
Further, another enormous problem Oz faces in the Pennsylvania Senate race is his Republican challenger Kathy Barnette, an outspoken conservative Army veteran and homeschool mom running in tandem with Oz for the same seat. In early May, Barnette revealed that she was a byproduct of rape. “In the world the Left desires,” she stated, “I would never have been born.”
Fox News reported that Barnette further threw down the political gauntlet by attacking Oz’s stance on abortion, stating that she was “disturbed” to see Dr. Oz running for Senate and alleged that he had previously denigrated the value of the lives of unborn children.
However, to his credit, Dr. Oz responded, “I would never think of harming that child, or even nine months earlier because life starts at conception.” For conservatives who are strongly pro-life, Oz’s position on this is crucial.
On Twitter, Barnette stated, “The status quo, establishment politicians have brought us to the point where we are now in our nation. That’s why I’m surging in this Senate race. People want real chance and they want leaders who know what it’s like to be in their shoes. Pennsylvania, I am YOU!”
Barnette is hardly an idle political threat to Dr. Oz. According to a new Fox News poll, she and Oz are polling in a near dead heat as the primary election rapidly approaches. 22 percent of potential voters favor Oz, while Barnette received an impressive 19 percent.
Historically, Trump-endorsed candidates soar to victory in their primary races. In fact, President Trump’s current record for endorsement victories is 58-1, and his seal of approval for Dr. Oz’s campaign may be enough for the television personality to edge Barnette out on election day.
Republican voters are poised to make a tough decision: will they support Dr. Oz, despite his moderate political past? Further, will the conservative voters of Pennsylvania take Oz’s campaign promises to heart?
President Trump seems to think Dr. Oz is the right man for the job, but it will be up to Pennsylvania voters to determine whether they will give him a chance.
