Dr Oz’s insult for John Fetterman’s clothing backfires spectacularly

Republicans have floundered attacking Fetterman, who leads race for GOP-held Senate seat

The latest GOP attempt to attack John Fetterman is falling flat as Dr Mehmet Oz and his Republican allies seek to make the lieutenant governor’s clothing choices and tattoos a campaign issue.

The latest back-and-forth in the much-watched PennsylvaniaSenate race began with Dr Oz’s appearance on a podcast, wherein he attacked the lieutenant governor for wearing a “costume” — the sweatshirts and jeans style that Mr Fetterman has been known for embracing for years, dating back to his time as mayor of Braddock.

“When he dresses like that, he’s kicking authority in the balls,” Dr Oz tried to suggest.

The criticism seemed oddly placed, as Americans of most stripes have long embraced anti-authority messages and in particular have seemed eager in recent years to pick candidates who break with the traditional mold of a politician.

Many reacted with bemusement on Twitter: “Fetterman should just run this entire comment as an advertisement for himself,” wrote attorney Ben Yelin.

“Interesting strategy for Oz to campaign as “the angry college dean from every 80s party movie” let’s see if it works,” quipped Maua Quint of Americans for Tax Fairness.

Meanwhile other allies of the GOP nominee in Pennsylvania, who is lagging behind Mr Fetterman in just about all polling of the race, took aim at a different aspect of Mr Fetterman’s personal appearance: His tattoos. That faux outrage appeared to be borne out of analysis of Mr Fetterman’s body art from the Washington Free Beacon, a conservative publication that largely functions as a Republican opp research group.

Those attacks fixated on a phrase tattooed on Mr Fetterman’s arm, “I will make you hurt”. Bizzarely, none of those Republicans — including former leaders of the party like ex-House speaker Newt Gingrich — seemed to pick up on the fact that this phrase is a well-known lyric from the Nine Inch Nails song Hurt, the subject of an iconic cover by the late Johnny Cash.

After being alerted of the musical connection, Mr Gingrich tried a desperate pivot to claiming that the phrase was not a reference to the extremely popular song and its lyrics, but was actually a reference to some obscure ritual carried out by the majority-Black “Crips” gang — an assumption that seemed almost like a caricature.

“Fetterman won’t answer questions,” Mr Gingrich complained about the non-issue.

The comments earned Mr Gingrich widespread mockery, as well as one vicious clapback from ex-GOP strategist Cheri Jacobus: “He's just quoting what you said to your first wife when she was in the hospital for her 3rd cancer surgery and you were leaving her to be with your sidepiece (who you married and then left to be with another side piece).”

The Pennsylvania Senate race has quickly become a mud-slinging competition as Dr Oz in recent months has attacked Mr Fetterman for his recovery from a stroke as well as his hiring of two men cleared of their murder convictions in a unanimous vote by Pennsylvania’s parole board. The lieutenant governor, in turn, has resorted to lighter mockery of his opponent for his recent residency in New Jersey as well as more serious allegations about the quality of medical recommendations that Dr Oz gave on his popular TV show.