TO: Interested Parties
FROM: Jack Doyle, Senior Advisor, Pennsylvania Democratic Party
DATE: Tuesday, October 25, 2022
RE: WHAT TO EXPECT: Oz Will Use Senate Debate to Spread Lies & Dodge His Record
Tonight’s Senate debate is taking place amid a barrage of breaking new stories that highlight Mehmet Oz’s deep financial ties to an alleged pyramid scheme in addition to his years of pushing dangerous treatments to his viewers, his “unusual” house deed that will make it easier for him to leave Pennsylvania once he loses, and his broken promise that his campaign wouldn’t take a dime of corporate PAC money.
The common thread across all these damning reports is the same one that has dominated Oz’s campaign and should define tonight’s debate: Oz is a lying fraud and a scam artist who Pennsylvania voters cannot trust to look out for them.
Mehmet Oz thinks if he keeps pretending he has ties to Pennsylvania and hides his shady past and his toxic views on the issues, voters will forget that he is not from here and that he is completely out of step with Pennsylvanians’ values. He will use this debate to spread lies and dodge his record, but the bottom line is Oz will not fight for the people of Pennsylvania.
Oz deserves to face scrutiny for his scam artistry and dangerous behavior
- A groundbreaking Associated Press report revealed days ago that Oz was paid millions partnering with an alleged pyramid scheme company Usana. The multi-level marketing company has drawn attention from federal regulators. While Oz made a fortune, one report found that only about 1% of participants turned a profit and 87% of associates lost money. Oz has refused to reveal details of his financial arrangement with Usana and how much he profited off of the partnership.
- The Washington Post reported this month how Oz has “provided a platform for potentially dangerous products and fringe viewpoints, aimed at millions of viewers.” TV watchers, including Pennsylvanians, who took Oz’s advice have experienced serious damage to their health – one reason why over 150 doctors across the commonwealth have mobilized against him. What kind of doctor would hurt a cancer survivor or convince someone on a fixed income to stop taking their blood pressure medicine? Oz should have to defend the pain he has caused by promoting fake miracle cures and magic diet pills.
- As was reported on the front page of The Philadelphia Inquirer, Oz was caught breaking his promise not to take corporate PAC money. Despite pledging not to take “one dime of corporate PAC money, not one dollar,” his latest fund-raising report shows multiple corporate PACs donated thousands of dollars to his campaign, once again proving there is nothing Oz won’t lie about.
Oz will continue to hide his stances on the most important issues in this race
- Oz thinks politicians should be able to ban abortion even in cases of rape or incest, even in Pennsylvania. Oz has called abortion at any stage of pregnancy “murder” and has said he would support banning abortion, even in cases of rape or incest. He’s consistently refused to give an straight answer on the GOP’s national abortion ban because he knows his radical stance is completely out of ste with Pennsylvania voters.
- Pennsylvania voters deserve to know if Oz would vote to overturn the 2024 election in favor of Trump. Last month it was revealed that Trump “told advisers that he needs people such as Pennsylvania Senate nominee Mehmet Oz (R) in office in case the election is challenged in 2024.” Oz, who has said we “cannot move on” from the 2020 election, has refused to address what he promised Trump to get his endorsement in the primary.
- Oz has spent a lot of time spewing empty talking points about crime but has provided no real plans for how he would make Pennsylvanians safer. He has opposed steps to actually address crime, including the most basic common sense gun laws, and couldn’t even name a single new gun safety law he’d support. He recently held a roundtable on community safety and addiction, which convinced an expert on the panel not to vote for Oz because Oz showed he has no actual plan. Unlike Fetterman, Oz has never actually taken on crime or addressed public safety issues from his gated mansions.
Oz will continue to pretend to be something he is not: A Pennsylvanian
- Oz didn’t even pretend to live in Pennsylvania until he decided last year to try and buy this Senate seat. Oz began this campaign from his New Jersey mansion overlooking Manhattan. Just before he announced his campaign, he got a $500k tax break on his Palm Beach mansion for renovating his pool and spa. When asked how many houses he owned, Oz said he said two houses – when the real answer was actually 10.
- While Oz did buy property in Pennsylvania in 2021 once he decided to run for Senate, even that has come with controversy. While buying his $3.1 million mansion in Montgomery County, Oz got a $50k tax break by taking advantage of a program that was meant to help farmers in Pennsylvania. Oz even has an “unusual” clause in the deed that could make it easier for him to leave Pennsylvania once he loses this race.
- Oz can’t even properly fake being from Pennsylvania. Over and over again, Oz has demonstrated just how out of touch he is with real Pennsylvanians. He’s a guy who roots for the Cowboys and talks about buying “crudite” in “Wegners.”
BOTTOM LINE: Oz will use this debate to continue to lie about pretty much everything, just like he has this entire campaign and his whole TV career before that. But no matter how well the celebrity “doctor” fabricates attack lines against John or runs away from his own record, it’s not going to work. Pennsylvania voters intensely distrust Mehmet Oz, they dislike him more and more every time they see him, and that’s exactly why he’s going to lose this race.