Mehmet Oz, an ex-surgeon and TV host parachuted into the front line by Republicans in Pennsylvania

Lhe midterm elections are especially tight in Pennsylvania. Mehmet Oz is aiming for a senator’s seat there on behalf of the Republicans in a battle that could prove decisive for control of the upper house.

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In thirteen seasons and nearly 1,700 episodes of his talk show The Dr. Oz Show, Mehmet Oz, 62, has made a name for himself and a fortune. Oprah Winfrey nicknamed him “America’s Doctor”. The surgeon, but also a promoter of miracle cures and other pseudo-sciences, is now a candidate for the Senate in Pennsylvania for the midterm elections. “I’m not a politician, I’m a heart surgeon. What I do is simple. I focus on the heart. The heart is important. And we all work together.”

He is known by millions of Americans, but his notoriety has not helped him in Pennsylvania, where he has no ties. Mehmet Oz is accused of being disconnected from the average voter. In an attempt to convince the center, he moved away from the most extreme theses of Donald Trump. He even acknowledged Joe Biden’s victory in 2020.

But he is campaigning on a very conservative line “The federal government shouldn’t have a say in abortion. To me it’s between women, doctors, and local politicians.” Received coldly by the Republicans of Pennsylvania, Mehmet Oz could still open the doors of Congress, because opposite John Fetterman, the Democrat, victim of a stroke in May, did not do much better.


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