Oz: I can cure what ails US
TV doc running for Senate
Dr. Mehmet Oz announced Tuesday that he will seek the Republican nomination for the US Senate in Pennsylvania, saying that Americans are “angry at our government and at each other” and vowing to “help us heal.”
“We have not managed our crises as effectively as past generations,” Oz, 61, wrote in an op-ed in the Washington Examiner, a news magazine and Web site.
“During the pandemic, I learned that when you mix politics and medicine, you get politics instead of solutions. That’s why I am running for the U.S. Senate: to help fix the problems.”
The cardiac surgeon, author and host of TV’s “Dr. Oz Show,” decried heavy-handed government responses to COVID-19 that he said caused “unnecessary suffering.”
“The public was patronized and misled instead of empowered. We were told to lock down quietly and let those in charge take care of the rest,” he wrote.
“When we tested positive for the virus, we were also told to wait at home until our lips turned blue and we got sick enough to warrant hospitalization. To be clear, this is not a typical medical protocol.”
Oz concluded the op-ed with a call to “confront those who want to change the very soul of America and reimagine it with their toxic ideology.”
“We need to fight for the benefit of our descendants. We have fumbled the baton we’re supposed to pass to our children. And I want to pick up that baton and start racing toward our promising future.”
Oz appeared on Fox News’ “Hannity” Tuesday evening and said America was “in crisis” but the “prognosis is good.”
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Monday, citing several sources familiar with the matter, that Oz had hired campaign aides and reached out to Pennsylvania Republican leaders.
The GOP field was shaken up this month when Republican frontrunner Sean Parnell suspended his campaign after a judge ruled against him in a custody battle amid allegations that he had abused his estranged wife and three children.
“With the leading candidate getting out, that’s certainly going to create a reshuffling of the race,” said Sam DeMarco, chair of the Allegheny County GOP.
Other GOP hopefuls include developer Jeff Bartos, former US Ambassador to Denmark Carla Sands and conservative commentator Kathy Barnette.
Oz would enter the race with sizable name recognition and an estimated net worth of $100 million.
After living in New Jersey for years, election records show, he registered to vote in Pennsylvania’s Montgomery County as a Republican last December, listing his parents-in-laws’ Bryn Athyn home as his residence.
Oz’s political aides did not respond Monday to questions from the Inquirer, and his agent and publicist could not be reached for comment.