Despite huge name recognition, deep pockets, and a ton of press coverage, Dr. Mehmet Oz’s run for U.S. Senate is apparently going very, very, very badly.
Politico reports that the TV doctor, who lives in New Jersey but is running for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, has reached “code-red crisis” mode just two months after announcing his candidacy and with several more months to go until the Pennsylvania Republican Primary.
Related: More craptastic news for wannabe U.S. Senator Dr. Oz
In a recent GOP straw poll, Oz received just one–yes, ONE–vote out of more than 100 cast, despite spending $5.4 million on TV ads. In two other straw polls, he placed third in one and fourth in the other.
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Per Politico:
The straw poll results in the Senate race are not binding, and they’re not surveys of the actual electorate. Many political operatives expect that the state Republican Party ultimately will decline to endorse in the primary this year — giving state committee members much less power than they would otherwise have. But the fact that Oz has stumbled out of the gate in this first test among GOP activists has exposed vulnerabilities in his past record and raised questions about whether rank-and-file voters will also turn their backs on him once they learn more about him.
Oz’s poor showing in the straw polls has also given Donald Trump pause, a Trump insider says. According to the insider, the ex-president, who everyone knows doesn’t like to be associated with losers, was “taken aback” by the results and “expected him to do better because of the celebrity.”
Related: Dr. Oz’s Senate campaign is an even bigger trainwreck than we were expecting
Oz has also become the target of several Republican super PACs that have begun running attack ads against him, branding him a “Hollywood liberal” and blasting him for previously supporting the Affordable Care Act and abortion rights.
All this comes after Oz, who is supposed to be a cardiologist, was widely ridiculed by doctors and nurses on social media after he tweeted a video of himself performing a blood pressure check on a man at the Pennsylvania Farm Show but did the check completely wrong.
Where to begin with this bad technique?
• Wrong-sized cuff.
• Cuff over clothing.
• Patient talking.
• Feet not flat.
• No mask.
• Cuff is likely upside-down.It’s important to hear the issues causing one to obtain an inaccurate blood pressure reading.
— Tim Broyle, MD (@BroyleTim) January 10, 2022
The blood pressure video was posted shortly after Oz and his wife, Lisa, were caught cursing out a reporter without realizing she was still on the phone.
Lisa failed to hang up on Olivia Nuzzi, who was covering Oz’s campaign for New York Magazine, and instead connected the phone to her car speaker, where she and her husband proceeded to call her a “liar” and a “f*cking girl reporter”.
I spent the last 3 weeks reporting on Dr. Oz for @NYMag. Things got strange quickly. https://t.co/aa2k8A1raM
— Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) December 28, 2021
The Pennsylvania Republican Primary will likely happen sometime in May.
Graham Gremore is the Features Editor and a Staff Writer at Queerty. Follow him on Twitter @grahamgremore.
Cam
I love the fact that he was screaming because it’s a requirement that his name is on the ballot. So he has to go by Memet Oz instead of Dr. Oz. He is acknowledging that his party is so racist, that if they know his first name, they may not vote for him.
Always nice when Republicans just admit all the bad stuff out loud.
JeffBaker
Conservatives can chant: “Trump an’ Oz is just th’ same/Memet ain’t a Muslim name!”
Pter
@Jeff Baker:
Mehmed (modern Turkish: Mehmet) is the most common Bosnian and Turkish form of the Arabic name Muhammad (Arabic: ????).
Muhammed and Muhammet are also used, though considerably less, and gains its significance from being the name of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam.
What kind of name is that then, Catholic?
mcflyer54
He’s a carpetbagger plain and simple. While he has connections in Pennsylvania he hasn’t actually resided there in years. People aren’t stupid and can see him for the fraud he truly is. He’s been lucky to have lasted on TV for as long as he has and made the money he did.
d3clark
He is/was a cardiac surgeon. But even they should know how to do a B/P.
Jaquelope
I guess if a US Representative whose residence/home address is in North Carolina can be elected in Missouri, then it’s not much of a stretch that a resident of New Jersey could get elected Senator for Pennsylvania, but I always heard that to be a viable candidate for a state’s office, they had to have an address in that state and district. Wasn’t Hillary Clinton required to move to New York when she began her campaign to be a Senator? Is it a double standard if you’re a man or a woman?
If his residence is in New Jersey, why doesn’t he try to represent them in Congress, or is it that he knows that he’d do worse than Caitlynn and her gubernatorial bid in California, if he ran in New Jersey?
Heywood Jablowme
The Constitution says U.S. senators must reside in the state they represent. Before 1913, senators were appointed by the state legislators, so they weren’t anticipating primaries or general campaigns, but the law is clear. Even if no court declares Oz’s senate bid to be illegal, Oz’s primary opponents will undoubtedly attack him on residency. My guess is he’s unlikely to get the R nomination – which is too bad because Fetterman or another Democrat would have an easy time beating Oz!
Kangol2
He has no chance in hell of being elected as a US Senator in New Jersey. None. This is the case despite the fact that New Jersey has one Democratic Senator who is always followed by a whiff of scandal (Robert Menendez), and a few pockets of fairly conservative White voters. The majority of the state, however, will not vote for right-wing nonsense. The minute Oz opened his mouth to spout pro-Don the Con garbage is the minute he killed that possibility off. New Jersey does elect Republicans to statewide office (cf. the disaster Chris Christie), but a person has to be somewhat moderate (i.e., not smooching Don the Con’s orange @ss) to win office. Same with statewide office in New York. Pennsylvania is a bit different because it has two major population centers which are very liberal (Philadelphia and its suburbs, and Pittsburgh and some of its suburbs), a few other cities which are reliably Democratic, and then some counties that flip back and forth (like Erie County). Quack Mehmet Oz’s phoniness isn’t flying anywhere in Pennsylvania, it seems.
Dwight
He’s done, a nonentity. Time to stop focusing on him and begin focusing on candidates who actually have a shot at the nomination.
CNY1983
I prefer “Mr Oz” to “Dr Oz”. Ive always found him creepy and full of his own shit. Thanks again “O”.
Kangol2
Well, quack that he is, he does have an M.D., legally, so he, like everyone else, usually refers to himself as Dr. Oz.
Mr. Stadnick
I guess he misjudged the population of Pennsylvania thinking they would fall for his name. It seems they are smarter than he thought!
M K
This is a rehash of a story here a week not two ago … get something current.
Thad
The actual election is months away. Get used to this story.
Oh, if only Dr. Oz was truly a liberal. THAT would be great.