Mehmet Oz’s campaign to become the next senator from Pennsylvania continues to stumble along. First there was the crudités fiasco, then the “how many homes does Oz own” imbroglio, followed by wishy-washy abortion concepts, which he coupled with failed attempt after failed attempt to go on the offensive. There’s also a recently dug-up radio interview where Oz explained how people didn’t need to be so puritanical about incest. For real. At every point, Democratic candidate John Fetterman has been there to remind everyone that the two men are running for an important job that should be given to a serious person with serious policy ideas—and Mehmet Oz isn’t that guy.
On Wednesday, CNBC reported that Oz owns stock in Thermo Fisher Scientific, as well as McKesson. Those are the pharmaceutical companies that supply and distribute the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine. Mehmet Oz’s nonprofit has seen support come its way from Sanofi—a France-based pharma company that used to make hydroxychloroquine. Why is that news? Mehmet Oz was one of the Trump surrogates that went around continuing the promotion of the anti-malaria drug as a treatment for COVID-19.
Mehmet Oz wasn’t the only Republican pushing hydroxychloroquine the past couple of years and like the rest of them, Oz seems to have been simply making money off of the panic pill-buying he and Trump and others were able to induce among the public. The important thing to remember is that the money people like Trump and Oz made promoting a completely ineffective treatment for COVID-19 resulted in a lot of dead Americans.
RELATED STORY: Mehmet Oz tries to go on the offensive, fails miserably
RELATED STORY: New study shows Trump is racking up a second body count with his claims about hydroxychloroquine
As Kedric Payne, an ethics attorney at the Campaign Legal Center, told CNBC, Mehmet Oz makes a lot of money promoting his dubious health remedies, and having direct ties to the pharmaceutical industry could raise red flags if he were to be elected to office. “He may be in for a rude awakening if elected because ethics rules could bar him from this activity. Senators cannot use their positions to promote any goods or services that financially benefit them,” Payne said. To be honest, if Mehmet Oz is elected to office, our democracy might have to begin waving white flags.
How much more a conman can take remains to be seen, though this television doctor seems willing to go for as long as there are cameras and microphones.
Here’s a walk down memory lane.
RELATED STORIES:
‘We call that a veggie tray’: Fetterman responds to Mehmet Oz’s out of touch ‘crudités’ video
In Fox News COVID-19 interview, Dr. Oz reveals he’s not just a TV quack, he plays one on Twitter too
Man of the people Mehmet Oz can't give a straight answer on how many homes he owns
Dr. Oz: Abortion is murder from the time of conception, except for when it's not