Dr. Mehmet Oz makes appeal to Butler area GOP voters
BUTLER TWP — About 100 people sat in The Back Alley and Family Bowlaway game room Tuesday afternoon for a town hall meeting hosted by Dr. Mehmet Oz as part of his campaign for U.S. Senate.
Oz, a Republican, said he is campaigning for the seat as an outsider to politics. He said as an outsider and longtime television personality, he “cannot be bought,“ and he can reach a large audience of voters.
He also said his experience working in medicine led him to question many of the systems in place that regulate the medical industry.
“People care and they are tired of being silenced and not being able to say what they believe,” Oz said. “I’m a porcupine and I like when I am getting at the issues that are truthful and helpful to people, I have done it my whole career.”
Attendees walked into the back room of the bowling alley and bar to see a backdrop for Oz behind a bar stool with a bottle of water and a blood pressure monitor on top of it. Oz used the monitor to demonstrate the importance of keeping a healthy blood pressure and intaking a healthy amount of cholesterol, not unlike the procedures he has performed on his television shows.
“The thing about blood pressure is it’s like a fire hydrant where the top is torn off and it scrapes off the delicate lining of the arteries,” Oz said. “Cholesterol is not really a problem by itself... Sometimes if you eat the wrong food, the cholesterol is not the right kind.”
Butler County Sheriff Mike Slupe introduced Oz. In his opening remarks, Oz said his work and words have been criticized by leaders and social media companies because he is touching sensitive information. He said leaders want to control the lives of Pennsylvanians while he does not.
“They are coming after me because they are scared,” Oz said. “When people get bothered it makes me think, what’s going on that’s bothering them so much.”
Oz spoke for about 15 minutes about his experience working in medicine on television. He also expressed his outrage at issues including inflation, energy production, modern medicine including COVID-19 boosters, China’s economy and its effect on the U.S. and immigration.
Following his speech, Oz opened the floor to questions. At one point, one of his staffers brought him a mug of beer, which he held up in cheers to the guests.
Ron Staub, of Zelienople, asked Oz for his opinions on the Second Amendment and abortion. Oz said he is in favor of personal gun ownership and against abortion.
Staub said he was leaving the town hall mostly satisfied with Oz’s responses.
Chester Conti, of West Sunbury, said he took the day off work Tuesday to see if Oz was “the real deal.” He told Oz that the U.S. military is sending many troops overseas to fight, but the country can’t protect its own borders.
Oz responded by saying the military should not be using troops to fly people from the border.
Conti said he was happy he attended the event.
“I only wish I could have asked more, but I don’t want to take up all his time,” Conti said.
In responses to other questions, Oz said he supports excuse-based mail-in voting only, supports collecting more natural gas in the state, and is “strongly supportive of Israel.”
“We should not leave any space between us and Isreal,” Oz said.
After taking about a half-dozen questions, Oz posed with members of the audience, who cheered “Oz” with him on the count of three. He ended his talk by repeating his plan to claim victory in the election.
“It’s network television which is why we are going to win in November,” Oz said.
