Oprah Endorses John Fetterman Over Former Protégé Mehmet Oz in PA Senate Race
Oprah Winfrey has finally involved herself in the U.S. Senate race between former protégé Mehmet Oz, who notably has made a hard-right political turn in his effort to win the open seat in Pennsylvania as a Republican – by endorsing his opponent, Democrat John Fetterman.
On Thursday Winfrey hosted “A Virtual Voting Conversation,” an online effort to encourage voting. And while she didn’t specifically criticize Oz, she did appear to shade him somewhat during her remarks.
“I said it was up to the citizens of Pennsylvania,” she said. “But I will tell you all this, if I lived in Pennsylvania, I would have already cast my vote for John Fetterman for many reasons.”
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Winfrey also encouraged support for Democrats Cheri Beasley of North Carolina, Val Demings of Florida, Mandela Barnes of Wisconsin, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, Beto O’Rourke of Texas and both Raphael Warnock and Stacey Abrams in Georgia.
“There are clear choices out there and some dynamic candidates who are working to represent the values — this is what we’re talking about — the values that we hold dear, the values of inclusion, the values of compassion and community that so many of us share. So use your discernment, which seems to be missing in a lot of our, our our country today. Use your discernment and choose wisely for the democracy of our country,” she said.
Previously, Winfrey declined to offer an opinion on the race, saying last December only, “One of the great things about our democracy is that every citizen can decide to run for public office” when asked about Oz’s campaign.
Oz was of course plucked from obscurity and promoted by Winfrey, appearing on her show more than 60 times between 2003 and 2009. He launched his own show, “The Dr. Oz Show,” in 2009; it latest 13 seasons total and went off the air in 2022.
