Ever since winning the Republican primary, Dr. Oz has routinely trailed John Fetterman in the Pennsylvania senate race for Pat Toomey’s open seat. That gap continued to widen over the summer as Fetterman repeatedly hammered Oz on social media. After already having a field day with the fact that Oz is barely a resident of the state, the TV doctor gave Fetterman a massive opening with an ill-advised campaign video where he pretended to go grocery shopping. (Note to future politicians: If you want to attract everyday voters in PA, don’t refer to veggie trays as crudités.)
Despite Oz’s campaign starting to go low and attacking Fetterman for having a stroke, Oz is still trailing in the polls and Fox News wants to know what the heck is going on. During a recent appearance on the conservative-leaning network, Harris Faulkner asked Oz point blank why he can’t seem to get ahead of an opponent who’s not been making a lot of public appearances. Via Mediaite:
“Let’s take a look at where you are. You would be replacing a Republican, Pat Toomey, Senator, but you are still 6 and a half points down,” Faulkner began.
“RealClearPolitics average shows Fetterman up still by 6 and a half percent. I drilled down and looked at all, what they are taking an average of here, doctor. The margin of error is well below that. My question for you is, with Fetterman willing to wear the invisibility coat why aren’t you actually leading? We can’t see or hear from him. What is going on?”
Despite being teed up by Faulkner to attack Fetterman, Oz didn’t have much to say except the same things he’s been saying all summer, which essentially boils down to… uh… Fetterman is a socialist disciple of Bernie Sanders, or whatever.
“He has never had a job. He grew up affluent and not done much with it. At the same time he was attacking me on baseless personal charges,” Oz said. “Here is the reality, as the race tightens, which it is doing and as people begin to understand how radical he really is.”
Just to show how Oz can’t catch a break, his campaign was banking on Fetterman not participating in a debate, which they hoped to capitalize on by saying he’s unfit for office. However, Fetterman has agreed to a debate, so there goes that talking point as quickly as it started.
(Via Mediaite)