Dr. Oz reportedly hiring staff for a potential Senate campaign

TV host Dr. Mehmet Oz might be getting ready to launch a Senate campaign.

Oz is preparing to enter the Pennsylvania Senate race as a Republican, and he's now hiring staff and reaching out to potential allies about this campaign, the Washington Free Beacon reports. The report said it isn't clear when he's preparing to make an announcement. Oz is registered to vote in New Jersey, the Washington Free Beacon noted, but his spokesperson said he has "lived and voted in Pennsylvania," where he "attended school and has deep family ties," since last year.

Oz, a cardiothoracic surgeon, rose to fame on The Oprah Winfrey Show and now hosts a daily medical show. He's stirred up controversy for allegedly "promoting quack treatments and cures in the interest of personal financial gain," as a group of doctors wrote in a 2015 letter calling on Columbia University to fire him. "Dr. Oz has repeatedly shown disdain for science and for evidence-based medicine," the letter stated. A 2014 study found that about half of his medical advice is either baseless or wrong, The Washington Post reported. Oz also sparked backlash in 2020 after saying on Fox News early on in the COVID-19 pandemic that reopening schools "may only cost us 2 to 3 percent in terms of total mortality," which is a "trade-off some folks would consider." He later said he "misspoke."

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Oz's spokesperson told the Washington Free Beacon he has "received encouragement to run" for Senate but added he's "currently focused on our show and has no announcement at this time."