Rolling Stone released a good piece yesterday about how Quack Doctor and U.S. Senate candidate, Mehmet Oz (R. NJ), is a threat to our democracy. To quote the old saying, “You are judged by the company you keep”:
But while Oz pays lip service to the 2020 election results, he has quietly loaded up his 2022 campaign with true believers in Trump’s “Big Lie” — including ones who attended Trump’s infamous Jan. 6 rally aimed at nullifying Joe Biden’s victory.
According to records reviewed by Rolling Stone, at least two Oz campaign staffers attended Trump’s Jan. 6 “Stop the Steal” rally in Washington, D.C. The rally, in which Trump declared the election stolen and encouraged supporters to “fight like hell” to pressure Vice President Mike Pence to overturn it, directly preceded the deadly Capitol riot.
Lee Snover, described as Oz’s campaign coordinator for Northampton County, attended the Jan. 6 “Stop the Steal” rally on the mall and said she walked to the Capitol that day but did not trespass on Capitol grounds. “I got to the Capitol steps,” she told Lehigh Valley Live that day. “The only violence I saw were the police teargassing patriots for no reason.”
Neither Snover nor Oz’s campaign responded to multiple requests for comment.
Snover, who serves as Northampton County GOP chair, does not appear in Federal Election Commission records as a paid Oz staffer, but she has been identified as Oz’s local campaign coordinator in media reports.
Four days before she attended Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally in D.C., Snover participated in a Zoom call with hundreds of state legislators from swing states where Trump, Rudy Giuliani, Peter Navarro, and John Eastman laid out plans on how to “decertify” their states’ results and stop the counting of electoral votes in Congress.
“It was an informative call. It was all fact-based, informative. It was really not even a political call,” Snover said in a conservative-talk-radio appearance two days before the insurrection. In the interview, Snover dismissed state election officials as unpersuadable and said that Republicans’ focus should remain on getting state legislators to urge Pence not to count their state’s votes. “That’s why we need the state legislators to do it. The secretaries of state are never going to change it.”
Another Oz staffer, Josh Bashline, who serves as a paid political adviser, also attended Trump’s Jan. 6 “Stop the Steal” rally, according to an interview he gave to a local newspaper. Bashline initially helped the Oz campaign as a volunteer poll watcher during his primary contest with David McCormack, but FEC records show the staffer stayed on the payroll at least as recently as Sept. 30.
The discrepancy between Oz and his staff on Trump’s election lies mirrors Oz’s own double-speak on what really happened in 2020.
During his narrowly won Republican primary run, Oz leaned heavily into rhetoric that the election still needed investigation — and that 2020 was an event “we cannot move on” from. But after the primary, the TV doctor said he wouldn’t have joined potential colleagues like Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz in trying to overturn Biden’s election victory. “I would not have objected to it,” Oz told a press conference about former Vice President Pence’s counting of electoral votes in the Senate.
Behind the scenes, there have been times, however, when Oz and his chief advisers have tried to assure some current and former Republican allies that the candidate supports American democracy.
In text messages obtained by Rolling Stone, Larry Weitzner, a top ad-maker for Trump’s presidential runs and a Team Oz consultant, debated Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, a media figure and player in conservative pro-Israel circles, on May 2 on whether or not Dr. Oz is truly a Trumpist election denier. The celebrity rabbi was once a close friend and adviser to Dr. Oz, but has since turned on the MAGA-fied doctor and calls the Senate campaign “grotesque, ”a waste,” and worse.
It’s important to know this because Trump has his sights on challenging this year’s election, especially in Philadelphia:
IN EARLY SEPTEMBER, Donald Trump welcomed a handful of Republican allies to Manhattan’s Trump Tower with an urgent message: He saw a “scam” happening with midterm election voting in Philadelphia and elsewhere in Pennsylvania, and he wanted conservatives to do something about it.
“During our briefing, he was concerned that 2020 is going to happen again in 2022,” says former senior Trump administration official Michael Caputo, referencing Trump’s debunked assertion that voter fraud in Philadelphia helped win Pennsylvania for Joe Biden. Caputo — who attended the meeting alongside Bradford County Commissioner Doug McLinko and retired CIA officer Sam Faddis — says they had a message back to the former president: “Our team encouraged him to be concerned … [Furthermore], I’m advising Republicans to recruit and train election observers and a team of attorneys to oversee historically problematic precincts.”
But it’s not just one meeting, and it’s not just Philly.
In recent months, Trump has convened a series of in-person meetings and conference calls to discuss laying the groundwork to challenge the 2022 midterm election results, four people familiar with the conversations tell Rolling Stone. In these conversations, pro-Trump groups, attorneys, Republican Party activists, and MAGA diehards often discuss the type of scorched-earth legal tactics they could deploy.
And they’ve gamed out scenarios for how to aggressively challenge elections, particularly ones in which a winner is not declared on Election Night. If there’s any hint of doubt about the winners, the teams plan to wage aggressive court campaigns and launch a media blitz. Trump himself set the blueprint for this on Election Night 2020, when — with the race far from decided — he went on national television to declare: “Frankly, we did win this election.”
Trump has been briefed on plans in multiple states and critical races — including in Georgia. But Pennsylvania has grabbed his interest most keenly, including in the Senate contest between Democrat John Fetterman and the Trump-endorsed GOP contender Mehmet Oz. If the Republican does not win by a wide enough margin to trigger a speedy concession from Fetterman — or if the vote tally is close on or after Election Night in November — Trump and other Republicans are already preparing to wage a legal and activist crusade against the “election integrity” of Democratic strongholds such as the Philly area.
Trump’s focus on Pennsylvania, however, seems to be more about his own political future than about party allegiance or fealty to his celebrity endorsee. As he hosts meetings on possible 2022 election challenges, he’s also been laying the groundwork for a run in 2024 — where Pennsylvania again promises to be critical and competitive. As one source who has spoken to Trump several times about a potential post-election-day legal battle over the Oz-Fetterman race puts it, Trump views a potential midterm challenge as a “dress rehearsal for Trump 2024.”
And don’t forget the craziness in the Governor’s race:
And in Pennsylvania ... there is Toni Shuppe.
Shuppe, a political activist and close ally of Republican gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano, recently published the final installment of her five-part “Plan for Victory in November” that she says is designed to “stop the steal of 2022.”
By almost any metric, the plan is chock-full of bad ideas.
Shuppe, for example, is urging voters to cast their ballots “as late in the day as possible” on Election Day to deliberately “overwhelm the system.” The reason for this is based on her theory that voting machines — which she calls “cheat machines” — are connected to the internet (they are not) and being manipulated by a hacker.
“Make him think he’s got the cheat in the bag and nobody will notice,” Shuppe wrote on Substack, referring to an unnamed hacker, “then overwhelm him during the last hour with a turnout he can’t keep up with.”
Shuppe — who has stated herself or shared others’ posts claiming that Pizzagate is “absolutely real,” 9/11 was “a false flag,” and the Flight 93 crash was faked — has also encouraged supporters to record video of voters going to ballot drop boxes during the midterms. She floated the idea of approaching already-overworked elections clerks in Pennsylvania “with an offer they can’t refuse,” by using public records requests as a threat to force them to hand-count paper ballots.
“They’re inundated with RTK [Right to Know] requests for cast vote records and the like,” Shuppe wrote. “We tell them that it’s only going to get worse after election day with everyone attempting to verify the counts because no one trusts the machines.”
Her writings, while not unusual among election deniers, are particularly problematic, because of her sizable following and her political connections. A resident of Beaver County, Shuppe is the cofounder of Audit the Vote PA, which collected 100,000 signatures in 2021 in an attempt to force state lawmakers to investigate the 2020 presidential election. She also met with former President Donald Trump that year.
FYI:
Asked about his association with a social network that is a haven for antisemitism and for his criticism of his rival’s Jewish day school, the Republican candidate for governor in Pennsylvania briefly had no words.
His wife did. “I would like to make a comment on that real quick,” said Rebecca Mastriano, to applause from supporters in the room. “As a family, we so much love Israel. In fact, I’m going to say we probably love Israel more than a lot of Jews do.”
The exchange, during a press question and answer session at a Doug Mastriano campaign stop on Saturday, offered perhaps the clearest encapsulation yet of a dynamic that has been dominant in the matchup between Mastriano and Josh Shapiro, who is Jewish and favored to win.
Mastriano, who is backed by Donald Trump and espouses beliefs that some have characterized as Christian nationalism, has attracted many far-right supporters, among them Andrew Torba, the founder of Gab, a social network that is rife with antisemitism and was frequented by the Tree of Life synagogue shooter.
Rebecca Mastriano’s comment mirrors the sentiment that Trump has expressed in statements about Jews and Israel in 2019 and again earlier this month — that American Jews owe Israel their support, and that Republicans care more about Israel than liberals do — which have earned rebuke outside the Republican party as a perpetuation of an antisemitic dual loyalty trope.
Democrats are fighting like hell to keep this snake oil salesman out of the U.S. Senate:
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) rolled out a new ad on Friday targeting Pennsylvania Senate candidate Mehmet Oz over medical views and products he promoted before running for office.
The ad, titled “Snake,” is a part of the DSCC’s $33 million ad investment in competitive Senate races. The Hill was the first outlet to report on the 30-second spot.
The ad accuses Oz of ripping “people off selling fake medical cures, and he’s always looking for new customers.”
The spot then goes on to attack Oz for supporting “a radical plan that could cut Social Security and Medicare,” a reference to Oz’s past praise of a proposal from Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) that included a provision that would sunset federal programs in five years without action from Congress. Oz has said he would work to strengthen those programs.
Also, the Quack Doctor doesn’t want you to know he pushed this:
In July and again in September, embattled Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dr. Oz expressed support for a Senate bill to protect same-sex marriage, in a departure from the more conservative wing of his party. In reality, the noted New Jersey resident is hardly an LGBTQ rights supporter, speaking out against trans athletes and backing bills mimicking Florida’s dehumanizing “don’t say gay” legislation.
And yet, it seems Oz’s campaign doesn’t want you to know any of this. As of Monday afternoon, the Dr. Oz Show’s website appears to have scrubbed all of its 2012 segments about gay conversion therapy, including a three-part interview with an anti-LGBTQ “reparative therapy” advocate, subsequent interviews with advocates at GLAAD and GLSEN rebutting the pro-conversion therapy segments, and a blog post from Oz about the “debate” around conversion therapy.
Of course, you can still find Oz’s blog via the web archive, here. “I felt that we needed to include all parties who have considered reparative therapy to hear the stories of people who have tried these treatments,” Oz wrote. “Although some viewers may disagree with this tactic, if we want to reach everyone who might benefit from understanding the risks of this therapy, you have to present multiple perspectives.” He said he ultimately concluded that “not enough published data [supports] positive results with gay reparative therapy” and expressed concern for its impacts on minors. But even giving a platform to extremists advocating for the torture of LGBTQ children in the name of respecting “both sides” and “multiple perspectives” is reprehensible enough.
Also, fuck this Garbage Person:
Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel on Sunday sidestepped a question about whether she regrets mocking President Biden and Pennsylvania Senate candidate John Fetterman (D) for their speaking abilities.
“Fox News Sunday” host Shannon Bream asked McDaniel to respond to her recent comments making light of the president’s speech impediment and Fetterman’s speaking issues following a stroke, asking, “Do you regret at all how that could appear insensitive?”
“I certainly want Joe Fri — Fetterman — John Fetterman to get better, and I would never make fun of somebody who has a stroke. But I will say they should be getting in front of the press, and they’re not, and they’re hiding,” McDaniel said in the interview, mixing up the two Democrats’ names more than once.
In an interview last week, McDaniel responded to news that Biden and Fetterman, along with Vice President Harris, would campaign together in Pennsylvania by saying that “maybe they can get a full sentence out.”
And Fetterman has been hitting the campaign trail hard. He was recently at my alma mater:
With Election Day just around the corner, Pennsylvania Lt. Governor and United States Senate Candidate John Fetterman (D) visited Temple University yesterday to speak to the North Philadelphia community about key policy differences between him and his opponent, Mehmet Oz (R).
The one-hour-long event, attended by students, parents and local residents, was held in the Howard Gittis Student Center and featured speeches from North Philadelphia community members and state and local politicians about how Fetterman’s platform can address Philadelphians’ needs.
Sean Jenkins, president of Temple Democrats, opened the event by emphasizing the importance of the Nov. 8 election and how students’ votes will affect key issues, including abortion and workers’ rights.
North Philadelphia community organizer, Kathy Barnes, said Fetterman, if elected, will focus on addressing Pennsylvanians’ needs, like defending affordable healthcare and supporting working-class people, and urged the audience to vote in the election.
“This election is a moment in time where our choices matter, our votes matter and the decisions that we’ve made,” Barnes said. “We’ll feel the effects of those for decades from now. Pennsylvania is a unique place. John Fetterman is a Pennsylvanian from Pennsylvania who understands Pennsylvania solutions.”
Pastor Darron McKinney of Bright Hope Baptist Church, located on Cecil B. Moore Avenue and 12th Street, stressed the need for a representative in Washington, D.C. to speak up for marginalized and disenfranchised citizens.
“We need a supporter for economic security that provides a wage with dignity of North Philadelphia. That is John Fetterman,” McKinney said. “He’s someone who is passionate about crime, opioid crisis and job insecurities in Pennsylvania. That’s John Fetterman.”
Here’s the latest polling out of Pennsylvania today:
Democratic Pennsylvania Senate nominee John Fetterman is leading Republican Mehmet Oz by 5 points, according to a New York Times/Siena College poll published just more than a week before Election Day.
About 49 percent of likely voters surveyed support Fetterman while 44 percent back Oz.
The results are similar to other polling showing leads the Democratic candidate has held over Oz for much of the campaign, including a 6-point advantage in a survey last week.
The New York Times/Siena College poll was conducted Oct. 24 to Oct. 26 among 620 likely voters. The margin of error is 4.4 percentage points.
Fetterman’s been getting big name help:
An energized President Joe Biden returned Friday to the Keystone State, his 15th visit since he took office, this time to attend a fundraiser with Vice President Kamala Harris and other leaders to boost Democratic Senate nominee John Fetterman, gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro and other Pennsylvania Democrats.
The president laid out the stakes immediately, cautioning the Nov. 8 midterm elections were “not a referendum, it’s a choice, a choice between two vastly different visions of America.”
“Democracy is on the ballot this year,” he went on. “Along with your right to choose, and your right to privacy. And the amazing thing is they’re saying it out loud.”
The Pennsylvania seat has for months been the most likely pick-up opportunity for Democrats in the evenly-divided Senate, but as prospects darken for Democratic incumbents elsewhere, a win here is becoming an even more urgent insurance policy for the party to cling to Senate control.
“It’s not hyperbole to suggest all eyes are on Pennsylvania,” Biden said.
The White House has showered attention on the Keystone State — Biden’s birthplace — in the final weeks before the election, and officials are preparing for another visit next week. Harris told the crowd the party needs to pick up just two more seats to pass major Democratic agendas on abortion rights and voting rights.
“Two more seats,” Harris said, putting up two fingers. “Just two more seats. One of them, right here.”
The Friday event came three days after Fetterman — recovering from a stroke earlier this year that he says nearly killed him — had a shaky showing in his sole debate against Republican Mehmet Oz. He spoke smoothly before the crowd in his trademark hoodie and jeans, saying he wanted to bring all Americans the same kind of quality health care that saved his life.
“So I may not say everything perfectly sometimes, but I’ll always do the right thing if you send me to Washington, D.C.,” he said to a standing ovation.
The dinner at the Pennsylvania Convention Center is the state party’s biggest fundraiser of the year, and party officials said the $1 million raised is the most ever for the dinner. Attendees included U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, and U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, for whom Biden headlined a virtual fundraiser earlier this week.
Also:
FYI:
Click here to request a mail-in ballot.
Click here to register to vote or check your voter registration.
Click here to learn about early voting in Pennsylvania.
Health and Democracy are on the ballot this year and we need to get ready to keep Pennsylvania Blue. Click below to donate and get involved with Fetterman, Shapiro and these Pennsylvania Democrats campaigns: