Republican Pennsylvania Senate candidate Mehmet Oz’s campaign mocked John Fetterman for having suffered a stroke earlier this year, saying that if his Democratic opponent had eaten vegetables, he would not have had one.
Rachel Tripp, a communications adviser to the Oz campaign, spoke to Business Insider in response to a question about the infamous video of Dr Oz shopping for crudité. Dr Oz was relentlessly mocked on social media for the video, where he mixed up the names of Redner’s and Wegmans grocery stories and said “Wenger’s,” which led to Mr Fetterman raising money off of it.
“If John 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,” she said.
Mr Fetterman suffered a stroke shortly before the Democratic Senate primary to replace retiring Republican Senator Pat Toomey. While Mr Fetterman handily beat Representative Conor Lamb and state legislator Malcolm Kenyatta, Dr Oz narrowly won a tight and bruising primary against hedge fund executive Dave McCormick and Kathy Barnette.
This came despite the fact that former president Donald Trump, who remains popular among Pennsylvania Republicans, endorsed Dr Oz. But Rolling Stone reported that Mr Trump has said that Dr Oz will “f**king lose.”
Mr Fetterman’s campaign has consistently mocked his Republican opponent for not living in Pennsylvania but rather neighoring New Jersey. He’s also criticised Dr Oz for saying that he owns two homes when he actually owns 10.
Most polls show that Mr Fetterman, the lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania, leading in the Senate race. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report recently changed its rating for the race from “Toss up” to “Leans Democratic.”
Democrats are defending their 50-50 Senate majority–where Vice President Kamala Harris often breaks ties–and see Pennsylvania as one of their best chances to flip a Senate seat.
Mr Trump will hold a rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania with both Dr Oz and Doug Mastriano, the Republican nominee for governor in the commonwealth.