- Trump and Mehmet Oz on Saturday launched a litany of attacks against Lt. Gov. John Fetterman.
- The ex-president accused Fetterman of being "spoiled" and baselessly accusing him of using drugs.
Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman on Saturday hit back at former President Donald Trump and Republican Senate nominee Mehmet Oz after the two men lobbed a series of attacks at him during a GOP rally in Wilkes-Barre.
Fetterman — the Democratic Senate nominee who has consistently led Oz in polling in recent months — responded to Trump calling him "spoiled" and baselessly accusing him of using drugs by tweeting that the two Republicans were spouting "lies."
"More and more lies from Trump + Dr. Oz in Wilkes-Barre tonight," Fetterman wrote. "I mean, Trump literally called me a 'raging lunatic' and said I would 'bring death and destruction' to PA. Yeahhh… Ok."
"Can you rush $10 to help me defeat these two desperate + sad dudes?," he added.
Oz — a cardiothoracic surgeon and well-known television personality — narrowly won a May GOP primary over longtime hedge fund chief executive David McCormick. And Fetterman easily won the Democratic primary over Rep. Conor Lamb and state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta.
But in May, Fetterman suffered a stroke, and after spending weeks recuperating, resumed his campaign activities last month.
During that time, Fetterman's campaign launched an intense social media strategy that poked at Oz moving from New Jersey to Pennsylvania to run for the Senate seat, in an effort to tag him as an outsider. (Fetterman even brought on "Jersey Shore" alum Nicole LaValle, better known as Snooki, to appear in a campaign message intended to troll Oz over the move.)
—John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) September 4, 2022
Trump in recent weeks has reportedly been frustrated by Oz's polling numbers and has privately called for major changes within the the GOP candidate's campaign, per a recent Rolling Stone report.
In recent weeks, Oz has taken on a sharply aggressive tone as it relates to Fetterman's health, even mocking the lieutenant governor after he said he needed additional time before he'd commit to a debate.
"Doctor Oz promises not to intentionally hurt John's feeling at any point," the campaign said. "At any point John Fetterman can raise his hand and say bathroom break … We will pay for any additional medical personnel who might need to have on standby."
"As I recover from this stroke and improve my auditory processing and speech, I look forward to continuing to meet with the people of Pennsylvania," Fetterman said late last month. "They'll always know where I stand."
A recent Franklin & Marshall College poll released late last month showed Fetterman ahead with 43% support among registered voters in the Keystone State, while Oz earned 30%; twenty percent of respondents were undecided.