Dr. Oz has his heart set on politics, announces Senate run in Pennsylvania

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania – It's official: Dr. Oz is running for a US Senate seat in Pennsylvania, and he wrote an op-ed to explain why he's doing so.

Dr. Mehmet Oz announced his run for Senate in an op-ed that was published Tuesday.
Dr. Mehmet Oz announced his run for Senate in an op-ed that was published Tuesday.  © imago/Future Image

On Tuesday, Dr. Mehmet Oz, a cardiothoracic surgeon and television personality, announced he was running for a Senate seat in Pennsylvania as a Republican.

He will be running for the seat that Sen. Pat Toomey will be giving up to retire once his current term ends.

The announcement came in the form of an op-ed that was written by Oz and published by the Washington Examiner.

In his article, Oz quite literally said he decided to run for Senate, "To empower you to control your destiny, to reinvigorate our great nation, and to reignite the divine spark that we should always be seeing in each other."

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Though these words might sound unifying and gracious, they don't exactly mirror the sentiments shared throughout the rest of the 61-year-old's op-ed.

According to the host of The Dr. Oz Show, the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic itself has divided the country in such a way that he can no longer be silent.

"During the pandemic, I learned that when you mix politics and medicine, you get politics instead of solutions," Oz wrote, adding that he hopes to fix the country's problem and help the nation heal as one.

Singing praises and pointing fingers

Dr. Oz got his start in television, working as a medical expert alongside Oprah Winfrey.
Dr. Oz got his start in television, working as a medical expert alongside Oprah Winfrey.  © Collage: IMAGO/Depo Photos

While he admits that the number of lives that have been taken by the virus are nothing short of tragic, Oz argued that, "Covid-19 became an excuse for the government and elite thinkers who controlled the means of communication to suspend debate."

The Columbia University professor claimed that throughout the pandemic, voices of opposition or countering opinion were silenced rather than uplifted, and pointed to the nation's politicians and leaders as the ones to blame.

"They took away our freedom without making us safer, and tried to kill our spirit and our dignity," Oz said in a video he posted on Twitter.

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Dr. Oz was sure to sing former President Donald Trump's praises in his op-ed, writing, "We had some moments of brilliance, such as the gift to the world of mRNA vaccines made possible by President Donald Trump’s Operation Warp Speed."

In order to get America on the right track, Oz said it's vital that we, "Confront those who want to change the very soul of America and reimagine it with their toxic ideology."

Though Dr. Oz made a lot of promises to heal the country, he failed to share how he plans to see any of them through.

The Cleveland, Ohio native will join a crowded Republican primary that includes Carla Sands, who was a US ambassador to Denmark during the Trump administration, and Philadelphia-area businessman Jeff Bartos.

Cover photo: imago/Future Image

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