Mehmet Oz was slammed Thursday for filming a campaign ad in his bid for Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate seat in his New Jersey mansion.
John Fetterman, Oz’s Democratic opponent, quote tweeted the video, saying “Pro tip: don’t film an ad for your PA senate campaign from your mansion in New Jersey.” Fetterman also attached two images from a 2020 People magazine profile that showed off the Republican doctor/talk show host’s extravagant home in Cliffside Park, New Jersey.
The backlash against Oz’s video, which called for the resignation of Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney, comes a week after Fetterman released a campaign ad in the style of “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous,” which listed Oz’s cumulative nine properties and intercut the same People magazine clip.
Oz’s campaign ad responded to a video from The Philadelphia Inquirer, in which Kenney responded to concerns of gun violence and expressed his worries for large events in Philadelphia. “I’m waiting for something bad to happen all the time. So I’ll be happy when I’m not here — when I’m not mayor and I can enjoy some stuff,” Kenney told reporters.
In response, Oz opened his ad by saying “A surgeon never ever gives up on his patients, especially when lives are on the line” before calling for Kenney’s resignation. He continued the video by criticizing democrats, such as Kenney and Fetterman, for “putting criminals ahead of the community” by calling for shorter sentences, sanctuary cities and cashless bail.
After Oz was declared the winner of the Republican primary for the open Senate seat in Pennsylvania, many have questioned the hardcore Trump supporter’s Pennsylvania candidacy.
In June, Jimmy Kimmel imagined what it would be like if Oprah apologized for having introduced him on the American public, as Oprah had backed Oz at the beginning of his career. In May, Stephen Colbert questioned Oz’s Pennsylvania candidacy, joking that “despite the fact that until the moment he announced, [Oz had] been living in and filming his show in New Jersey.”