“What happened to him?”: Dr. Oz trades TV show for Pennsylvania Senate bid

After 13 seasons of hosting his daytime talk show, Dr. Oz is trying to bridge the gap from celebrity cardiologist to celebrity conservative. The renowned heart surgeon is running for Senate in Pennsylvania because he disliked how the federal government handled COVID-19.  

“We lost too many lives, too many jobs, and too many opportunities because Washington got it wrong,” said Dr. Oz in a Nov. 30, 2021 campaign announcement video. “They took away our freedom without making us safer.”

Senate bid shocks Hollywood 

The celebrity doctor and award-winning talk show host believes he has the prescription to fix what’s wrong in Washington and fill the seat of retiring Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA). 

“What happened to him? [Dr. Oz] He’s gone over to the dark side,” said Joy Behar, co-host of ‘The View’ talk show. 

The Senate candidate is running an America First campaign, popularized by former President Donald Trump. 

Trump endorses Dr. Oz

“By the way, I endorsed another person today – Dr. Oz in Pennsylvania,” Trump told a crowd of supporters during an Apr. 9 rally in Selma, North Carolina. “Great guy. Good man. Harvard educated. Tremendous, tremendous career, and they liked him for a long time. That’s like a poll. You know, when you’re in television for 18 years, that’s like a poll, that means people like you.”

David McCormick, Oz’s opponent in Pennsylvania’s  GOP primary, is critical of Trump’s endorsement.

In a Fox News interview, he said, “I respect the fact he’s [Trump] had a decade-long relationship with Mehmet Oz, the problem is Mehmet Oz is a Hollywood liberal.”

Dr. Oz’s platform 

According to Dr. Oz’s campaign website, the issues he wants to address in Congress include healthcare, public safety, education, the economy, and energy.  

Perry backs Dr. Oz’s energy plan

Oz’s energy stance, which favors domestic fracking of natural gas and the U.S. becoming energy independent, has earned him a key endorsement from former Secretary of Energy Rick Perry. 

“To help America become energy independent again because we were under the Trump administration and then the Biden administration made some really poor choices. America lost that edge,” Perry said in an interview on Newsmax. “So, we need to get our edge back, and one of the ways to get your edge back is to put Dr. Oz in the United States Senate.”