The campaign for Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidate Mehmet Oz mocked John Fetterman’s health on Tuesday saying he would not have suffered a stroke if he had eaten more vegetables.
The comment comes after Oz went viral last week when a video from April resurfaced showing the celebrity TV doctor mispronouncing the name of the grocery store he was in while struggling to shop, and saying that the cost of crudité is outrageous due to inflation.
Fetterman responded to the video saying, “in PA we call this a… veggie tray.” His campaign also raised half a million dollars within 24 hours of the video going viral.
On Tuesday, the senior communications advisor for Oz’s campaign, Rachel Tripp fired back at Fetterman in a statement to Insider. She told the outlet that if Fetterman had eaten more vegetables he would not have had a stroke.
“If John Fetterman had ever eaten a vegetable in his life, then maybe he wouldn’t have had a major stroke and wouldn’t be in the position of having to lie about it constantly,” Tripp said.
Fetterman suffered a stroke days before winning the Pennsylvania Democratic Senate primary race in May. He was missing from the campaign trail for three months though that does not appear to have dull his momentum in the race against Oz.
He has used social media effectively, so far, to portray Oz as a carpetbagger from New Jersey out of touch with the needs of the average Pennsylvanian.
The most recent poll from the state shows Fetterman leading Oz by 18 points, 51%–33%. The FiveThirtyEight average of polls has Fetterman with a 10 point lead over Oz.
Last week, the nonpartisan Cook Political Report shifted the Pennsylvania senate race from “toss up” to “lean Democrat,” which means Democrats have the advantage heading into the November midterm elections, fewer than three months away.
