Some critics on social media are accusing Dr. Oz of using former President Donald Trump to help him with the Republican Primary in Pennsylvania after the candidate dropped Trump from his campaign website. The Republican candidate for Pennsylvania’s Senate seat, Dr. Mehmet Oz, dropped any branding associated with the ex-President Donald Trump, whose support propelled him to victory in the primary election.
Early this month, after a required recount started to show Oz winning, David McCormick, a former hedge fund businessman, and Bush administration official, conceded the close primary race to Oz, a television host and cardiologist.
Trump was a “near-ubiquitous fixture” in the Oz campaign’s advertising, according to an Axios report that was published recently. A series of videos on energy, abortion, and gun rights began with the line “endorsed by President Trump.”
Oz’s social media cover photo features him alongside Donald Trump, and he mentions Trump more than 70 times on his Twitter page. Oz’s team emphasized his ties to Trump in all Facebook and Google ads.
However, since the day of the Republican primary, Oz hasn’t referenced Trump on Twitter. The website no longer includes a pop-up window with Trump on it, and the cover photo now just reads, “Thank you, Pennsylvania,” on Oz’s solo photo. According to reports, Oz has also ceased running the Trump advertisements on Facebook and Google.
According to Axios, Gov. Glenn Youngkin employed the same strategy in his recent campaign against Terry McAuliffe. Youngkin put more emphasis on other topics like the economy and education than on Trump’s endorsement.
The Oz campaign hasn’t completely cut its links to Trump. “The endorsement is the first endorsement listed on our website, and we changed the banner to thank Pennsylvanians after the recount was completed,” Oz spokesperson Brittany Yanick said.
Republican primary voters found Oz to be the candidate who polarized them the most. Even though he was the front-runner, a poll from Emerson College found that 48% of voters had an unfavorable opinion of the candidate. Republicans’ views on McCormick were 32 percent negative and those of Kathy Barnette, who came in third, were 28 percent negative.
Even though Fetterman had a stroke days before the election, Rep. Conor Lamb lost to Fetterman. President Joe Biden is unpopular among Pennsylvanians by a score of 54 to 39 percent.
Pennsylvania voters preferred Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman against Oz by a ratio of 46 percent to 37 percent, according to a poll by Network and Suffolk University.
Compared to the 2018 midterm elections, Pennsylvanians’ economic situation seems bleaker. From 12 to 45 percent, the percentage of voters who described the economy as “poor” doubled in four years. The economy is seen as “excellent” by 1% of voters.
However, with 44% and 40% of the vote, respectively, Democratic Attorney General Josh Shapiro is ahead of Republican State Sen. Doug Mastriano in the contest for governor.
“Even with Democratic party registration dwindling in Pennsylvania, both Fetterman and Shapiro are adopting a more populist approach to midterm voters and winning independents,” Suffolk University Political Research Center Director David Paleologos remarked. “Voters say they are unhappy with the economy in Pennsylvania and President Biden’s job approval, yet these particular Democrats are threading the needle thus far.”
It’s unclear if there’s any behind the scenes political drama between Oz and Trump.