Dr. Oz Brings Us the Latest from the Campaign Trail in PA

CLAY: We’ve now got Dr. Oz hanging out with us and we appreciate him making the time given how competitive this Senate race is. Dr. Oz, Buck and I were two of the first people that said Dr. Oz is going to win this race. You are going to win this race. Congrats on your performance in the debate. What is the absolute latest on the ground from your perspective one week out?

DR. OZ: Well, we’ve got momentum, which is the single most important asset in politics because you just can’t manufacture it. It happens because you’re at the right place at the right time with the right message. I want to explicitly reinforce what you just said. You guys were the first. (laughing) You got on board early on. You said, “Oz has got something that could actually be helpful to Pennsylvania,” and you did it for the right reasons. You know, I would talk to each of you separately, but I had the kitchen table issues always in my focus, like surgeons always do.

We focus on the stuff that matters the most. So, it’s the economy and issues around crime and the fact that Pennsylvania is a border state now with all the fentanyl pouring in here. Those three issues were the ones that I focused on. I never took my eyes off them. John Fetterman talked about everything but those three issues because he was weak on them. And as you saw in the debate last week, he has extreme positions that he actually cannot defend. You asked the simplest questions around, for example, why did you take such a strong stance against fracking?

Insulting people in the industry, calling it “a stain on Pennsylvania,” saying you’ve never been supportive of it. And then all of a sudden in the last month you’re pretending you like it, even though people in the energy industry are scared of you. And that’s a major hit on the economy of Pennsylvania, $80 billion-plus revenue, and you can’t defend it. Why do you always protect the murderers over the victims and the innocent? Doesn’t have a defense. Why did you try to raise taxes? In fact, roughly 50% tax increase he tried to get in Pennsylvania, yet he didn’t pay his own taxes 67 times.

But I always said that if he’s the person who will bring more extreme ideas to Washington, which is part of the reason Washington gets it wrong, I’ll bring balance to Washington. I’ll make sure that the partisan bickering is not the dominant theme, but actually we deal with the problems facing Pennsylvania voters. So God bless you both and (crosstalk).

BUCK: Dr. Oz, I always think it’s so interesting that in the medical field, overwhelmingly surgeons are the most politically conservative, and it is psychiatrists who are bringing up the rear as the most left wing. All the data shows that.

CLAY: (chuckles)

BUCK: I wanted to ask you, though, what it’s looking like on the ground right now. You’ve got early voting underway. They got a well-oiled Democrat machine arrayed against you. What are some factors people need to know, and how is your side mobilizing, doing the door knocking, doing the get-out-the-vote effort?

DR. OZ: Well, you don’t start that the last week. You start that actually in July, the dog days of summer. We have a huge group that was knocking on doors, over a hundred thousand a week. Our whole program for going back to those same doors later on to make sure they actually show up and vote. We go after them until they actually do vote. We have a very big mail campaign, very strong on the ground because we had a very close primary. So, I have lawyers in every part of the state.

BUCK: That’s smart.

DR. OZ: I’ve got three major headquarters with Election Day operations. I’ve got people who are actually manning all the polls. It’s a big investment. This is something we’re getting right this year, and I’m confident we’re going to win this election, but not just because we’ve got a good Election Day operation, but we’re actually ahead in the polls because we have better ideas, and I always remind —

BUCK: Yeah, I mean, to working Pennsylvanians, Dr. Oz — Clay and I keep saying this — people are just trying to pay the bills, get it done. The Democrats really don’t. I mean, the Fetterman message, which is just a mirror image of the Biden Democrat nationwide message is, you know, “Maybe it’ll get better. Shut up and deal with the high crime, the high prices and the mess.”

DR. OZ: They ignore the facts. But here’s the part that stunned me after the debate, which most people — except for the Philadelphia Inquirer, right? (laughing)

BUCK: (laughing)

DR. OZ: Most people thought that I did well and he didn’t. But after the debate, the Democrats that night raised $2 million, and they continue to pour money in now. By the way, if that bothers you and it should please support me at DrOoz.com. You know, we’re raising money as well, but this is an unbelievably effective fundraising machine for the Democrats, and there’s a lot of reasons for it. But we finally figured it out, and we’ve caught them, and we have a better ideas, which is ultimately why elections get won. But it is imperative to do what you just discussed. Make sure you have a ground operation, that you’re talking to people about, things they care about. And the Democrats this cycle — not just in Pennsylvania, but I think it’s true around the country — have ignored crime.

Even people in Philadelphia say they feel like they’re part of a social experiment because we have the most homicides ever. They ignore the impact of fentanyl. We have seven times more — according to the state troopers who’ve endorsed me, as has the Fraternal Order of Police, seven times more — than two years ago. Democrats won’t acknowledge it. In fact, Fetterman says he wants to legalize all drugs. We know when that was tried in Oregon two years ago, 50% increase in homicide rates — not just drug overdoses, homicide rates — because you create lawlessness. And eventually Democrats are going to figure this out, but it’s going to hurt them this cycle.

CLAY: Dr. Oz, Buck and I love to look at the data as it’s coming in. It may take a while for Pennsylvania to be fully reconciled in terms of all the numbers coming. What area quickly here in the state — every vote matters, but what area in the state — is the most critical, in your opinion, to winning this race?

DR. OZ: The Southeast is vital, the Philadelphia and suburban areas. The rest of the state, I think, is firmly supportive of our views and told us is getting the message as well. And I bought ads in every World Series game just to make sure — and of course, I’ve been in the Eagles games the whole time as well. (chuckles)

CLAY: Love it.

BUCK: There we go.

CLAY: Absolutely love it.

BUCK: Dr. Oz, we appreciate you, man. We are looking forward to seeing how it shakes out on Election Day. We’re feeling good, and we’re glad that we were early on the Oz train because that choo choo is going to Victory Town.

DR. OZ: (chuckles) God bless you. Take care. Thanks so much.