Former President Barack Obama joined a Saturday rally in support of Pennsylvania Democratic candidates including John Fetterman, whose face-off with Trump-backed Republican Mehmet Oz, aka Dr. Oz, in the state’s Senate race is nearing zero-hour.
“John’s opponent — he has answers; they’re just the wrong ones,” Obama told the rally crowd, riffing on Oz’s history in daytime television. “You wanna lose weight? Take raspberry ketones! Got leg cramps? Try lavender soap! Want to prevent dementia? Palm oil! A miracle solution. Never mind that none of these things have been proven to work and in some cases might be harmful. You’ve just got to believe! And then hand over your credit card information. It’s easy to joke about Dr. Oz and all these crack remedies he’s pushed on TV, but it matters. It says something about his character. If somebody’s willing to peddle snake oil to make a buck, then he’s probably willing to sell snake oil to get elected… You deserve somebody who’s stood side-by-side with you, somebody who will work every day and fight for you, somebody who’s actually from Pennsylvania. You deserve somebody like John Fetterman!”
Oz has faced criticism for — among a lot more — his barely present ties to the state he’s trying to represent. He lived in New Jersey for decades and only moved to Pennsylvania comparatively recently. Although Oz’s on-again, off-again relationship with Pennsylvania makes for laughable memes, it also reveals something about the effectiveness of his potential leadership. Does he even know what concerns the people of Pennsylvania? For a lot of those who’ve been there even ten years and raised families in the state through recent upheavals from economic downturns to the COVID-19 pandemic, does Oz understand their basic concerns and recent experiences? Or is he more in touch with the community of the mega-rich in which he operates? He owns multiple mansions and has loaned $23 million to his own campaign, becoming the top federal candidate this year in self-funding. J.D. Vance and Blake Masters both have backgrounds in venture capital, but it’s Oz who’s apparently pouring in the most of his own money.
Obama also criticized Oz for his tepid stance on the legitimacy of the results of the last presidential election. The former president, who has now appeared in half a dozen swing states ahead of Election Day, has brought up the issue before, including in Nevada, where he pointed out that Republican Senate pick Adam Laxalt — who helped promote election conspiracy theories after the last presidential race, during which he served as a Trump campaign co-chair in his state — likely won’t be as concerned about the legitimacy of the results if he’s eventually declared the winner. Oz “says he needs more information,” Obama remarked, discussing whether the Republican contender will acknowledge the security of the election. “What information are you talking about?.. He’s hired people who marched to the Capitol on January 6. They’re on his campaign!” Crowds for Obama’s speeches have often grown quite engaged with his remarks. Watch Obama below:
Obama on Oz: "John's opponent still refuses to acknowledge that Joe Biden won the 2020 election. He says he needs more information to determine if the results were legitimate. What information are you talking about? … Donald Trump says he needs Dr Oz in the Senate." pic.twitter.com/g25SfwPzSH
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 5, 2022
