Comment Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, who by his own account “almost died” after suffering a stroke in May, is getting an exemption from health advice from the campaign of his Senate opponent, celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz. Rachel Tripp, Oz’s senior communications adviser, said in a statement Tuesday: “If John Fetterman had ever eaten a vegetable in his life, then maybe he wouldn’t have had a major stroke and wouldn’t have been able to lie. so all the time.” The statement was first reported by Insider. Fetterman (D), who initially downplayed the severity of the stroke just before the May primary and is slowly getting back on the campaign trail, said earlier this month that he is “grateful” to be alive. On Wednesday he said the comment from his Republican foe, who hosted a reality show offering medical advice, had brought the race to a new rhetorical low. “I had a stroke. I survived it,” Fetterman said in a statement. “I know politics can be ugly, but even then, I could never imagine making fun of someone for their health challenges.” In addition to that statement, Fetterman’s campaign on Wednesday also released a letter from more than 100 doctors in the state criticizing Oz for what they said is his record of “promoting unproven, inappropriate and at times potentially dangerous treatments.” “As a television celebrity doctor, Mehmet Oz has demonstrated a shameful disregard for medical science and the well-being of his audience,” the doctors wrote in the letter. Oz has promoted dubious weight loss treatments and in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic suggested chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for Covid-19. In a report released Wednesday, the House select subcommittee on the coronavirus crisis said White House officials and outside allies like Oz also pressured federal officials in 2020 to approve hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for the coronavirus. The latest clash between Fetterman and Oz comes as Democrats try to retain a slim grip on the Senate in midterm elections, which have historically seen losses for the party that controls the White House. Oz narrowly won the Republican nomination thanks in part to his personal wealth and the support of former President Donald Trump. The candidates have traded barbs in public statements and through social media. Fetterman’s team tried to portray Oz as a wealthy carpetbagger from New Jersey. The Oz team portrays Fetterman as a crime-and-sanctuary-supporting socialist. Race memes have, at times, produced unintentionally hilarious moments and helped fuel the perception that momentum is with Fetterman. In April, Oz released a video where, in an attempt to discuss inflation, he was buying vegetables at a supermarket. “That’s $20 for the crudite!” Oz said in the video. The video later went viral after viewers noticed that Oz said he was shopping at a “Wegner’s,” which doesn’t exist but sounded like a combination of Redner’s and Wegman’s supermarkets, and that most people would call what he was making, simply, a record vegetables. The Oz campaign, in its criticism of Fetterman’s eating habits on Tuesday, kept the issue alive for more than a week. Fetterman, meanwhile, took advantage, saying his campaign raised half a million dollars from the video, including $65,000 from a sticker that read: “Wegners: Let Them Eat Crudite.” Fetterman also mocked Oz after the Daily Beast revealed he owns 10 properties, instead of the two he had publicly acknowledged. Oz defended himself by saying he bought the homes with his own money — a blow to Fetterman, who relied on significant financial help from his family until he became lieutenant governor in 2019. The two are running for the seat held by Sen. Patrick J. Toomey (R-Pa.), who is retiring at the end of his term.
