By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
Nationally-known television physician Dr. Mehmet Oz just found out politics can be a contact sport, as his announced run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Pennsylvania’s Pat Toomey in 2022 is off to a rough start.
While he’s running as a Republican, in the past Oz has made some statements supporting gun control measures that may not ring well with Keystone State gun voters. According to the Crime Prevention Research Center, Pennsylvania is one of six states where more than 1 million active concealed carry permits have been issued. The state also fields hundreds of thousands of hunters every yer.
As noted by Fox News, Oz has in the past supported so-called “red flag” laws that allow gun seizures “without proof of malicious intent.”
Dr. Oz provided a written statement to Fox News after the cable network published an article about his gun control past support.
“As a proud gun owner myself, I’m a firm believer in the Second Amendment and our constitutional right to bear arms for protection. I do not believe there should be any policy or law, state or federal, that prevents a law-abiding American from purchasing a gun without due process and fair adjudication,” Oz said.
Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Inquirer has apparently decided it will no longer use “Dr.” when referring to his campaign for the Senate. Oz has reacted on video with a clever put down, but the alleged decision by the newspaper has raised an important question.
Why do media outlets continually refer to the First Lady as “Dr. Jill Biden?” Unlike Oz, Biden is not a medical doctor. She’s an educator. A Ph.D. Yet many in the media continually use the “Dr.” reference.
While Dr. Oz may be having fun with the Inquirer, he’s having a little less amusement with a controversy that may dog him into the campaign.
The 61-year-old Oz indicated he will primarily focus his campaign on rebuilding “the middle layers of society…that have been hollowed out by failed policies, narrow thinking and toxic culture wars.”
Oz isn’t the only candidate to succeed Toomey. There are currently 10 other Republicans in the running, along with a dozen Democrats. To say the 2022 Senate campaign will be lively may be the understatement of the decade as they all scramble to get the most media attention possible.
