“Negative views of Oz point to underlying questions about whether voters can trust him.”
PENNSYLVANIA — New reporting from the Philadelphia Inquirer highlights how New Jersey fraud Mehmet Oz is a damaged candidate who Pennsylvania voters don’t trust:
Add up his loose ties to Pennsylvania — he lived in New Jersey for more than 30 years after attending medical and business school in Philadelphia — and his attempts to distance himself from past statements on guns, abortion, and other topics, they say, and voters have reason to question his character in a race that could come down to just a few percentage points.
In addition to being a carpetbagger who Pennsylvanians don’t trust, Oz has embraced a number of toxic positions that are going to haunt him throughout this election.
See below for highlights from the article and read the full text here.
- At a time when most candidates soften their tones and tack toward the political center, Oz still needs to solidify his support with conservative base voters, many of whom were left skeptical of his credentials. And, Democrats and some Republicans say, the negative views of Oz point to underlying questions about whether voters can trust him.
- “He was trying to communicate ‘America First’ values, but I think authenticity matters,” [Kathy] Barnette said in an interview.
- Barnette, who won 25% of the primary vote and finished third, has so far declined to endorse Oz, even as his other former rivals have lined up behind him.
- Oz carries his negative ratings after a primary ad blitz that challenged his loyalty to Pennsylvania, accused him of shifting positions on issues such as guns and abortion, and dubbed him a “RINO,” or “Republican in name only,” who couldn’t be trusted to uphold conservative values.
- Much the way Republican rivals did, Democrats have pointed to Oz’s shifts. In a 2019 radio appearance, for example, he expressed concern about strict abortion limits in Alabama. And while he has long said he personally opposed abortion, in 2008 Oz said that “I’m not socially conservative” and that “we should not be creating obstacles during the difficult time that women have when trying to terminate a pregnancy.”
- But during the primary he described himself as “pro-life” and favored overturning Roe v. Wade.
###