Trump-backed Mehmet Oz says he would have certified Biden's presidential victory in 2020: 'I would not have objected to it'

• Oz said he would not have objected to certifying Biden's win if he'd been in the Senate at the time.
• "By the time the delegates and those reports were sent to the US Senate, our job was to approve it," he said.

Mehmet Oz, the Pennsylvania Republican Senate nominee who is backed by former President Donald Trump, said on Tuesday that he would have certified Joe Biden's 2020 victory if he had been a member of the upper chamber at the time.

During a press conference alongside retiring Republican Sen. Pat Toomey, the reality TV doctor was asked if he would have had an issue with certifying the 2020 election.

"I would not have objected to it," Oz said at the event. "By the time the delegates and those reports were sent to the US Senate, our job was to approve it, which is what I would have done."

Oz has been endorsed by Trump, who continues to insist with no evidence that the 2020 election was fraudulent.

Oz's statements could be helpful to him with moderates and independents who will likely decide the outcome of the general election in the Keystone State — especially in the vote-rich Philadelphia suburbs — as GOP candidates in key races have sought to distance themselves from Trump's wholesale rejection of the presidential results.

But the comments could also deflate some support among many of the party's staunchest members, especially those backing the state's GOP gubernatorial nominee, state Sen. Doug Mastriano, who sought to overturn the 2020 results in Pennsylvania and assailed the administration of the election in the state that year.

Biden, a Scranton native, won Pennsylvania 50%-49% over Trump in 2020, and his win in the state proved decisive in taking him across the 270 electoral vote threshold to capture the presidency.

Trump continues to speak out against the 2020 election, alleging fraud in a range of swing states, while also teasing a 2024 White House bid — which if comes to fruition — could set up a potential rematch with the president.

The certification of the 2020 presidential election was temporarily halted on January 6, 2021, when rioters breached the US Capitol building in Washington, DC; the results were certified by members of Congress later that day and on January 7.

The events surrounding the Capitol attack are currently being probed by a select House committee, which had a series of hearings this summer that revealed additional actions taken by Trump and several of his top aides on January 6.

Oz is running in a heated race with Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, who has led in most public surveys.

A recent Franklin & Marshall College poll released in late August showed Fetterman ahead with 43% support among registered voters in the Keystone State, while Oz earned 30%; twenty percent of respondents were undecided.

And a recent Emerson College poll showed Fetterman leading Oz 48%-44%.