Dr. Oz Reportedly Wants to Be a Senator

Sources say the celebrity physician will run in Pennsylvania
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 30, 2021 1:47 AM CST
Dr. Oz's Next Rumored Move: Senate Race
This Dec. 4, 2019 file photo shows Dr. Mehmet Oz at the 14th annual L'Oreal Paris Women of Worth Gala in New York.   (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

Senator Dr. Oz? Perhaps, if the sources who spoke to the Philadelphia Inquirer are correct about celebrity physician and lifestyle personality Mehmet Oz. The 61-year-old is expected to enter Pennsylvania's US Senate race, which the newspaper calls one of the country's most critical races next year. It's especially fraught for Republicans, whose primary Oz is expected to be joining, since Trump-backed candidate Sean Parnell suspended his campaign. Sources say Oz has already hired campaign aides and started talking to GOP leaders in Pennsylvania, and could announce his candidacy this week—perhaps on Sean Hannity's show Tuesday. TMZ's sources say he's already made a multimillion-dollar media buy in Pennsylvania. The Republican primary to replace the GOP's Pat Toomey, who is not seeking re-election, is "wide open," per the Inquirer.

While Oz has massive name recognition and a huge fortune, his political views are somewhat of a mystery (though it was his show on which Donald Trump disclosed his medical records before running for president in 2016; he was later appointed to sit on one of Trump's presidential councils; and he's pushed hydroxychloroquine on Fox News multiple times). His medical views are very well-known, however, and they've gotten fairly controversial since Oprah Winfrey first skyrocketed Oz to fame nearly two decades ago. Yahoo News calls him a "pyramid scheme pitchman," pointing to his promotion of diet pills other medical experts have called a sham. Oz is expected to step back from his show amid the campaign. Earlier this month, Politico reported that Republican insiders were "baffled" by Oz's desire to enter the race, and some saw him as a "carpetbagger," having only recently switched his voter registration to Pennsylvania from New Jersey. (More Dr. Oz stories.)

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