New Jersey carpetbagger and former television pitchman Mehmet Oz, nominated to the US Senate by Republicans, is now backing away from a comment his campaign spokesperson made about Democratic Pennsylvania Senate nominee John Fetterman’s health, ABC News reports.
After his campaign communications advisor, Rachel Tripp, told the media if Fetterman “had ever eaten a vegetable in his life, then maybe he wouldn’t have had a major stroke and wouldn’t be in the position of having to lie about it constantly.” Tripp isn’t a medical professional; Oz is nominally a doctor, having once treated patients, but now pitches dubious health treatments.
Speaking on a Pittsburgh radio station, Oz claimed that although he is the candidate and ostensibly leading the campaign, he cannot take responsibility for a statement put out by his campaign–he is a Republican after all, so he can’t take responsibility for anything. “The campaign has been saying lots of things,” Oz said. “My position — and I can only speak to what I’m saying — is that John Fetterman should be allowed to recover fully and I will support his ability, as someone who’s gone through a difficult time, to get ready.”