President Joe Biden trolled Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz while supporting his Democratic rival John Fetterman during a trip to Pennsylvania.
The president backed Fetterman, the state’s current lieutenant governor, in visits on Thursday to Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Although Fetterman enjoyed a double-digit lead over Oz in some polls released during the summer, his advantage has evaporated as Election Day approaches, with more recent surveys suggesting that the contest could be headed for a photo finish.
The president told around 100 donors during a fundraiser in Philadelphia on Thursday night that Fetterman was one of “the good guys,” according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. Biden, who was born in Pennsylvania and moved to Delaware when he was 10 years old, then mocked Oz while noting that the celebrity doctor had also attended high school in Delaware.
“He went to high school in Delaware,” the president reportedly said during the event. “But Delaware was smart enough to send him to New Jersey.”
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Fetterman has frequently accused Oz of carpetbagging during his campaign, trolling the Republican by often pointing out that he had been a resident of New Jersey for decades and established residency in Pennsylvania only relatively recently.
After a campaign ad released by Oz over the summer appeared to show him speaking in a location that looked suspiciously similar to his home in New Jersey, Fetterman tweeted, “Pro tip: don’t film an ad for your PA senate campaign from your mansion in New Jersey.”
A fundraising page on the Fetterman campaign website promises that donations to the Democratic candidate will “support Dr. Oz joining the New Jersey Hall of Fame,” describing him as “a huge New Jersey celebrity who’s lived there for three decades.”
Biden on Thursday also disparagingly described Oz as “a perfect example of a MAGA Republican,” while praising the “character” of Fetterman and urging Pennsylvania voters to “not blow it” by voting for Oz.
The president has recently used harsher rhetoric against former President Donald Trump and many of his “MAGA” supporters. During a fiery speech in Pennsylvania on Labor Day, he warned that “MAGA Republicans” could destroy democracy and set the country on a “sliding path to oblivion.”
Brittany Yanick, Oz’s communications director, told Newsweek in a statement that Biden’s visit on Thursday was “an attempt to distract from the serious issues facing Pennsylvania families due to John Fetterman’s radical policies.”
She said that Fetterman had “voted to release convicted murderers, tried to shut down Pennsylvania’s energy production, pushed for wasteful inflationary spending, advocated for decriminalizing fentanyl and opening heroin injection sites in our communities.
“You simply can’t cover these up despite the fact that Pennsylvanians are hurting,” Yanick continued. “We need real change that brings balance back to Washington – and Dr. Oz is the only one who will do that in the U.S. Senate.”
Fetterman currently holds a 2.4 point polling advantage over Oz, according to an average of recent polls from RealClearPolitics. However, the site has also predicted that Oz will win the Senate election.
The prediction that Oz will be victorious is based on the assumption that polls are underestimating support for Republicans, which has been the case in some previous elections. The most recent poll of the contest, released by InsiderAdvantage/FOX 29 on Thursday, shows the candidates tied.
Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment.
