Oprah Winfrey was amongst some of Dr Mehmet Oz’s colleagues who spoke up on the Republican’s Pennsylvania Senate bid. The 61-year-old in November announced his campaign for the 2022 midterm elections. 

Winfrey, who worked closely with Dr Oz, did not directly endorse her protégé. Speaking to New York magazine in a statement from her spokeswoman, Nicole Nichols, she said, “One of the great things about our democracy is that every citizen can decide to run for public office. Mehmet Oz has made that decision. And now it’s up to the residents of Pennsylvania to decide who will represent them.”

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Oz is in a race with several other Republicans to secure the party’s nomination to replace outgoing Senator Pat Toomey.

Winfrey had called Oz ‘America’s Doctor’ when he was a regular guest on ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’. She also produced 13 episodes of ‘Second Opinion With Dr. Oz’  and her company Harpo Productions produced ‘The Dr. Oz Show’. 

However, not all colleagues are fond of Oz’s Senate run. Some of then called him a ‘scam artist’. 

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“Somewhere, I’m not sure how, he started to sell out—it happens to a lot of people when they get money and success; they want more money and more success. He went from doctor to entertainer to scam artist. Dr. Oz is dangerous because he believes he’s got some divine power,” a producer, who shall remain anonymous, told the New York Magazine.

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“I was like, ‘What?! How the f*** are we going to do true crime on The Dr. Oz Show?'” the producer said. “And then it was twice a week, sometimes three times a week during ratings week. It was a stretch. The only way that you could tie it to something medically was to talk about some DNA evidence. It was a sign to me that this guy is willing to do whatever it takes for money. So it wasn’t a shock or a surprise for me when I saw that he was running for office, because he just wants to f****** win.”

As per initial polls, Oz is leading other Republican candidates in the state.