Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, the state’s Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, warned that Republican nominee Dr. Mehmet Oz is working with numerous people who pose “a direct threat to our American democracy” and demanded that he fire his staffers recently exposed as supporters of the January 6 insurrection.
Rolling Stone reported on Sunday that at least two people working on Oz’s campaign attended the rally former President Donald Trump held in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021 before thousands of his supporters waged an attack on the U.S. Capitol and tried to stop lawmakers from certifying the 2020 election results.
“It really says a lot about Dr. Oz that he’s hired people who want to quite literally overthrow American democracy,” tweeted Fetterman on Monday.
Lee Snover, a campaign coordinator for Oz, was among the Trump supporters who marched to the Capitol after the so-called “Stop the Steal” rally. She also participated in a Zoom call four days before the insurrection about the Trump campaign’s plans for “decertifying” election results in swing states and called for state legislators to push then-Vice President Mike Pence to interfere with the counting of electoral votes.
Political adviser Josh Bashline was also profiled by Rolling Stone, which reported that he attended the “Stop the Steal” rally.
“Dr. Oz and his disgustingly radical campaign must fire these insurrectionist staffers immediately,” said Joe Calvello, a spokesperson for Fetterman.
The news regarding Oz’s campaign staff is just the latest evidence that the celebrity doctor supports Trump’s continued baseless claims that he was the true winner of the 2020 election.
Oz said in April that “we cannot move on” from the election and he supports the gubernatorial campaign of Doug Mastriano, who organized buses to Washington, D.C. for the January 6 rally and whose campaign event Oz attended over the weekend.
Along with members of Oz’s staff, a consultant for his campaign, Larry Weitzner, told a former supporter of the Republican candidate that Oz was not “an election denier” even as Weitzner promoted the false claim that fraud had taken place during voting.
“He is not denying the [2020] election,” Weitzner texted Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, before adding, “Massive difference between saying their [sic] was fraud, which most Republican officials and voters believe as well as real evidence, [versus] saying the election was stolen or denying Biden won.”
As Rolling Stone reported, Weitzner was among the Trump allies who received an email from former House Speaker Newt Gingrich on December 8, 2020, which read, “The goal is to arouse the country’s anger through new verifiable information the American people have never seen before… If we inform the American people in a way they find convincing and it arouses their anger, they will then bring pressure on legislators and governors.”
In recent weeks, Fetterman has taken aim at Oz’s claim that “local political leaders” should have a say in whether people can legally obtain abortion care and his long history of promoting unproven and dangerous wellness products on TV, and demanded he disavow Trump’s plans to sow doubt about the integrity of the Pennsylvania election on November 8.
“Whether it’s with his abortion views on the debate stage or with his employment of multiple insurrectionists,” said Calvello. “Oz’s extremism is on full display in the campaign’s final week.”
A poll released by the New York Times/Siena College on Monday showed 49% of likely Pennsylvania voters currently plan to support Fetterman while 44% are backing Oz.
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Julia Conley is a Common Dreams staff writer.
