Oz Campaign Event Brings Former Trump Administration Official To Area

The doctors were in on Thursday.

Former U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Dr. Ben Carson joined Mehmet Oz, a surgeon who hosted a TV show and is better known as Dr. Oz, at a campaign event in Bristol Township. Oz is running to represent Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senate.

Oz, a Republican who recently moved to Montgomery County, brought his “A Dose of Reality” town hall series to the Falls Manor Catering and Special Events venue along New Falls Road for the event with Carson and moderated by conservative radio talk show host John Fredericks, who served as a campaign official in 2020 with President Donald Trump’s unsuccessful bid to win reelection.

During the packed event, Oz said he knows what issues impact Pennsylvanians and he would be their representative in Washington D.C.

Similar to a campaign stop in Newtown Township in February, Oz explained his background and mentioned he would crusade for conservative values in the nation’s capital.

“I’ve fought on the biggest stages,” he said to the audience. “I’ll fight and do what needs to be done.”

Oz said the fear of “cancel culture” is an important issue to many Americans.

“The most stifling feeling in America is being conservative,” Carson said.

Oz and Carson joked about an idea they would wear face masks when they came into the event as a riff on COVID-19 mitigation policies. However, they decided not to do it because they thought it might upset the crowd.

“Obviously it’s a control issue,” Carson said of governments’ mask policies.

Oz and Carson, both highly-trained medical doctors, said they support expanded rollout of drugs that treat people seriously ill with COVID-19.

Carson told the crowd he nearly died in 2020 from COVID-19, and the then-president had sign special authorization for him to get advanced monoclonal antibody treatment that wasn’t yet approved for the public.

Oz said people should get vaccinated, but added he doesn’t support mandates that require citizens to get vaccinated.

A voter, Nick, had his blood pressure taken on stage by Oz, urged the candidate to stand up for conservative values and not compromise with Democrats.

A woman said campaign ads against Oz showing him interviewing a youngster who identified as a different sex than the one assigned as birth upset her. She called it “disturbing.”

Oz said he doesn’t support kids transitioning their sex and hosted a TV show where he wanted to hear both sides of an issue.

“We should be able to win these culture war issues as scientists and with facts,” he said.

Oz told the crowd he supports more drilling for natural gas and called it a “pathway to reduce our carbon footprint.”

Elaborating, the candidate said some activists are against more drilling because they want a smaller population on the plant, while more natural gas will enable the population to thrive.

One event attendee asked Oz about his duel citizenship.

Oz’s parents were immigrants to the Philadelphia region, but he was born here and holds both U.S. and Turkish citizenship.

Responding to the query on the issue, which has been raised by both Democrats and Republicans, he said he has kept his Turkish citizenship to have control over his ailing mother’s health care in Turkey.

However, Oz said, he would renounce his Turkish citizenship if he won the U.S. Senate race, which led to someone calling from the audience that he shouldn’t have to do that.

“I know. I know,” he said, adding he felt it would be the right decision if he won.

Students from the Harry S. Truman Young Republican Club were in attendance at the campaign event and had the chance to meet Oz. Student David Earp began the pledge at the event.

Earlier this month, Trump endorsed Oz for the GOP primary.

Oz said his top opponent in the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate race, former hedge fund CEO David McCormick, has aired misleading ads about him.

Oz and McCormick are leading the race, according to recent polling.

Throughout the campaign, Oz has faced questions about dubious medical advice given on his popular syndicated TV show, his residency in the state, past statements that conflict with current Republican policy points, and his dual Turkish citizenship.

CNBC reported the race to replace retiring Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey is leading to millions of dollars from Wall Street executives being poured into the primary.

Following his stop in Bristol Township, Oz took part in a private campaign event at the Newtown Athletic Club, which is owned by Jim Worthington, a supporter of Oz.

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