Trump-endorsed GOP Senate candidate Dr. Oz says 'we cannot move on' from the 2020 election

• GOP Senate candidate Dr. Oz said during a Monday debate that "we cannot move on" from the 2020 election.
• Oz, who was endorsed by Trump, is a leading candidate in the GOP primary to succeed Sen. Pat Toomey.

Dr. Mehmet Oz — the former television personality and Republican candidate in the Pennsylvania Senate race who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump — said during a Monday GOP debate that "we cannot move on" from the 2020 election.

Oz said he talked to Trump about the circumstances of the election results and pointed to changes in voting laws fueled by the coronavirus pandemic as something that the Republican party should continue to examine.

"I have discussed it with President Trump and we cannot move on," he said. "As all the other candidates up here have outlined, under the cover of Covid, there were draconian changes made to our voting laws by Democratic leadership, and they have blocked appropriate reviews of some of those decisions. We have to be serious about what happened in 2020, and we won't be able to address that until we can really look under the hood."

Oz — a cardiothoracic surgeon who jumped into the race last November — is competing for the Republican nomination alongside candidates that include David McCormick, a former hedge fund executive and under secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs; Carla Sands, who served as the US ambassador to Denmark under Trump; Kathy Barnette, a conservative commentator; and Jeff Bartos, a real estate developer.

During the debate, Oz, McCormick, Sands, and Barnette all spoke of the desire to continue shining a light on the election in some way, despite no verifiable evidence of mass voting fraud or widespread irregularities. Bartos called the election a "catalyst" for what the country is facing at the moment, criticizing President Joe Biden's administration.

The televised debate comes as the GOP foresees major electoral gains in the fall, with some in the party hoping to move beyond Trump's election claims and focus on upcoming contests — while others have dug in on the former president's continued grievances about the 2020 contest.

Oz was attacked by his opponents during the debate for leaning too heavily on Trump's endorsement and for having held liberal positions on major issues in prior years. McCormick — who is widely seen as a leading candidate in the race alongside Oz — delivered some of the sharpest barbs to take down the famed doctor's candidacy.

"Listen, the reason Mehmet keeps talking about President Trump's endorsement is because he can't run on his own positions and his own records, and what's true is he has flip-flopped on every major issue that we're talking about in this campaign," McCormick said.

He continued: "The problem, doctor, is there's no miracle cure for flip-flopping, and Pennsylvanians are seeing right through your phoniness and that's what you're dealing with. And that's why you're not taking off in the polls."

An Emerson College/The Hill survey that was conducted in early April before Trump endorsed Oz showed McCormick leading Oz, 27% to 21%, when undecided voters were asked who they favored in the election, with Bartos at 17%, Barnette at 15%, and Sands at 11%.

Sands, in making her case to conservative voters, argued that Trump wasn't given solid guidance before he made his endorsement in the race.

"President Trump doesn't always get the best advice," she said. "It's unfortunate but true."

The debate topics in the race also covered abortion rights, COVID-19, energy production, and the participation of transgender athletes in sporting events.

The candidates are angling to replace two-term Republican Sen. Pat Toomey, who opted out of running for reelection.

In November 2020, Biden — who was born in Scranton — won the Keystone State by 1% over Trump, and his victory in the pivotal swing state took him across the 270 electoral vote-threshold to capture the presidency.

Democrats — who have a highly-contested primary of their own — view the state as one of their best pickup opportunities in their quest to retain control of the Senate in what is expected to be a difficult year for their party.