Among the raft of candidates running for Republican Senate seats this fall is controversial former Oprah insider and Trump favorite Dr. Mehmet Oz, who is running for the Pennsylvania Senate seat vacated by Republican Pat Toomey.
His campaign has been plagued with controversy from the start for many reasons, including the fact he does not even live in the state of Pennsylvania.
Oz has lived in neighboring New Jersey for decades but claims to live at the Pennsylvania address he used to register to vote in the state in 2020--which is his wife's parents' house.
A gazillionaire celebrity Senate candidate living with his in-law's is pretty far-fetched. But it became even harder to believe when Oz released a campaign video attacking his Democratic opponent in which he missed a key detail that pokes holes in his story.
His opponent, Democratic Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, did not miss the detail, however. As Fetterman tweeted, Oz seems to have filmed his video surrounded by decor showcased in a 2020 People magazine profile of his mansion--in New Jersey.
Oops. See Fetterman's tweet below.
\u201cPro tip: don\u2019t film an ad for your PA senate campaign from your mansion in New Jersey.\u201d— John Fetterman (@John Fetterman) 1657215549
Along with incriminating screenshots from the People profile, Fetterman wrote:
"Pro tip: don’t film an ad for your PA senate campaign from your mansion in New Jersey."
The video shows Oz standing in front of similar curtains and a bookcase with similar decorations as seen in the profile of his Cliffside Park mansion just outside New York City.
Oz's failed okey-doke quickly upstaged the message of his video, in which he lambasted Fetterman as “put[ting] criminals ahead of the community" and called on Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney to resign over comments he made after that city's July 4 shooting.
Oz's gaffe is particularly embarrassing given that it comes just a week after Fetterman released a Lifestyles of the Rich and the Famous-style campaign video mocking Oz as an out of touch multi-millionaire.
The video used footage from the very People magazine profile of Oz's New Jersey mansion that produced the incriminating images in the first place. Double oops.
\u201c\u201cHey People Magazine, welcome to my crib(s)\u201d - Dr. Oz, literally \n\nAs a general rule of thumb, celebrity TV doctors with over $100 million in asset$ + several properties NOT IN PA don\u2019t usually fight for working people. \ud83d\ude43\u201d— John Fetterman (@John Fetterman) 1656595920
Fetterman's dragging of Oz definitely made waves on Twitter.
\u201c@pucks_and_pols @JohnFetterman\u201d— John Fetterman (@John Fetterman) 1657215549
\u201c@JohnFetterman The problem with Oz (or should we call him "Meh?") for most Pensylvanians isn't just that he's a carpetbagger. It's that he might as well be from another dimension for all he understands about regular folks' concerns in PA. He has zero feel for the state of PA.\u201d— John Fetterman (@John Fetterman) 1657215549
\u201c@JohnFetterman From Urban Dictionary:\n\nOzzed\nv. ozzed, 0zzed, 0223d\nv. tr.\nTo be made a fool of; To make a fool of; To confound or prove wrong; embarrasing someone: Being embarrased.\nI ozzed you in counter-strike. You were ozzed at the party yesterday. Fetterman ozzed your latest ad.\u201d— John Fetterman (@John Fetterman) 1657215549
\u201c@JohnFetterman OMG do they think no one is actually looking at / listening to them? \nHow *dumb* do they think Pennsylvanians are, exactly?\u201d— John Fetterman (@John Fetterman) 1657215549
\u201c@JohnFetterman Mehmet Oz skipped voting in the 2018 US Primary to vote in Turkey\u2019s election. Mehmet Oz claims to hate \u201cbig tech\u201d yet he has over $10.2M worth of shares in Apple, Amazon & Microsoft. Also, Mehmet lives in New Jersey. Vote for John Fetterman. He\u2019s beating Mehmet by over 9%!!!!!!!!\u201d— John Fetterman (@John Fetterman) 1657215549
\u201c@JohnFetterman Watching you dunk on him on a daily basis is very fun\u201d— John Fetterman (@John Fetterman) 1657215549
\u201c@richsignorelli @JohnFetterman It\u2019s SO refreshing to have a Dem candidate for higher office know how to actually throw a few punches. His People \u201cWelcome to my crib\u201d ad from last week was scalding. Love it!\nhttps://t.co/kIGewvdCsp\u201d— John Fetterman (@John Fetterman) 1657215549
\u201c@JohnFetterman Mehmet Oz built a palace of a mansion in New Jersey. Oz will not just walk away from it. Oz is an imposter from Jersey. \ud83d\udc47\u201d— John Fetterman (@John Fetterman) 1657215549
\u201c@JohnFetterman @owillis Good to see Fetterman\u2019s shitposting is inspiring other Dems to join in!\u201d— John Fetterman (@John Fetterman) 1657215549
Even Oz's New Jersey congressional representative joined in to mock his "North Jersey constituent."
\u201cLet me thank my North Jersey constituent Dr. Oz for cutting his Pennsylvania campaign ads right in our North Jersey district. These commercials help showcase our beautiful Garden State.\u201d— Bill Pascrell, Jr. (@Bill Pascrell, Jr.) 1657217895
It's not illegal for Oz to run for Senate in Pennsylvania, so long as he doesn't vote in another state. But many, Fetterman included, feel it makes Oz little more than an opportunistic interloper--much like former President Trump, who has endorsed him.
