Oprah announces she's supporting Fetterman over former protégé Dr. Oz in PA Senate race

Oprah Winfrey doesn't live in Pennsylvania, but she revealed Thursday night that if she did, her ballot would have already been cast for Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman — not his Republican opponent Mehmet Oz, the man whose entertainment career she launched on her eponymous talk show.

Winfrey spoke about the Pennsylvania Senate race during a virtual event she hosted about voting. She stressed the importance of having a plan to vote and being informed on the issues. "If we do not show up to vote, if we do not get fired up in this moment, the people who will be in power will begin making decisions for us," she said. "Decisions about how we care for our bodies, how we care for our kids, what books your children can read, who gets protected by the police and who gets targeted. And right now, you have a say in these things we do."

She then said, "If I lived in Pennsylvania, I would've already cast my vote for John Fetterman, for many reasons." Fetterman, along with other Senate candidates like Mandela Barnes in Wisconsin and Cheri Beasley in North Carolina, "are working to represent ... the values that we hold dear, the values of inclusion, the values of compassion and community that so many of us share," Winfrey said. "So use your discernment, which seems to be missing in a lot of our country today. Use your discernment and choose wisely for the democracy of our country."

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The Fetterman campaign quickly touted Winfrey's seal of approval, saying "it speaks volumes that Oprah would endorse Fetterman over Oz. Oprah is widely regarded as the person who helped launch Dr. Oz's career and knows him well." Fetterman, the statement continued, is "grateful for Oprah's support and trust on the issues that matter to people across the country and Pennsylvania as we close out this campaign."

Oz made frequent appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show starting in the early 2000s, which led to him getting his own syndicated program, The Dr. Oz Show, in 2009. The longtime New Jersey resident moved into a house in Pennsylvania belonging to his wife's family in 2020, his team has said, and the next year Oz announced he was ending The Dr. Oz Show so he could run for Senate in the Keystone State.