Oz campaign on John Fetterman: If he had 'ever eaten a vegetable in his life,' he wouldn't have 'had a stroke'
- Dr. Oz, the Republican Senate candidate, went viral after complaining about the price of "crudité."
- The recent 'veggie wars' in the Oz-Fetterman race have attracted plenty of attention.
Dr. Mehmet Oz has spent the past week defending himself from charges that he's hopelessly out of touch with most residents of Pennsylvania, where he is the Republican candidate for Senate.
Last Monday John Fetterman, Oz's Democratic opponent, resurfaced a video Oz recorded in what he called a "Wegners" — a mishmash of the Redner's and Wegmans grocery store chains — shopping for "crudité" and complaining about inflation. Fetterman's comment: "in PA, we call this a veggie tray."
In an exclusive statement as part of Insider's investigation into Oz, the doctor's campaign jabbed back. "If John Fetterman had ever eaten a vegetable in his life, then maybe he wouldn't have had a major stroke and wouldn't be in the position of having to lie about it constantly," Rachel Tripp, Oz's senior communications advisor, said.
The veggie wars represent the most recent drama in the Oz-Fetterman race, which has attracted plenty of attention. Not only is the race expected to be close, but it has the potential to tilt the scales in Washington.
It can also be seen as a referendum on Donald Trump, who endorsed Oz early-on over fellow Republican David McCormick. (McCormick's wife, Dina Powell, served in the Trump administration.) After Oz's crudité misstep, plus another dustup with Fetterman over how many homes he owns — Oz said he has two; he actually has 10 — Trump reportedly told two of his confidantes that Oz will "fucking lose" unless something changes in the race. (Trump's campaign denied this to "Rolling Stone.")
While these blunders may be evidence of Oz's political novice, people who have long known the 62-year-old told Insider he's always thought of himself as destined for greatness. Over the course of his career, he has engineered a series of parlays: from running a groundbreaking medical center to gaining press attention, from press to best-selling book and appearances on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," and from Oprah to his own media empire, several business and board positions, and a place in virtually every American heart and mind.
"I think part of the reason he came on TV was to ramp up his profile so at some point he could go into politics," one person involved in the inception of "The Dr. Oz Show" said as part of Insider's recent investigation into the doctor. "He's definitely the kind of person who will do what he has to do to get what he wants."
Read about how Dr. Oz's life-long obsession with power led to his candidacy in Pennsylvania.