Dr Oz sparks outrage by attacking ‘petty tyrant’ Fauci in Senate campaign: ‘Go back to your reality show’
Republican leader claims Fauci is a ‘petty tyrant’ who got Covid wrong
Your support helps us to tell the story
This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.
The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.
Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.
GOP Pennsylvania Senate candidate Mehmet Oz, more commonly known as Dr Oz, is facing backlash from the medical community after his sustained attacks on infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci in his campaign ads.
Dr Oz, who was forced to end his multi-award-winning talk show The Dr Oz Show after he announced his candidacy on 30 November, recently called Dr Fauci a “petty tyrant”, as he challenged him to a debate on Covid.
Appearing on Newsmax last Thursday, Dr Oz said he wanted to debate Dr Fauci on vaccine mandates and natural immunity from coronavirus infections. “He is a petty tyrant. He got Covid wrong. He continues to get it wrong,” Dr Oz told the outlet.
In a separate tweet that he posted along with his campaign ad video, Dr Oz said: “It’s past time Fauci faces the fact that he got Covid wrong. So, doctor to doctor – let’s debate. This Doctor is in, are you?”
“Let’s get the facts straight here. You and me. Let’s have a debate, doctor to doctor, and give the American people the truth about Covid-19. I’m game. Anytime. Anywhere. Dr Fauci, are you in?” he added in the video.
In another video clip he posted along with an interview on Fox News, the Senate candidate said: “Doctors everywhere, including myself are fed up with the harmful outpouring of misinformation from Fauci being promoted by the media.”
Slamming him for the statement, Krutika Kuppalli, a member of the Covid-19 Technical Team at WHO, said: “I am a doctor and know many others who don’t agree with this statement. Those of us in medicine, particularly [infectious diseases] learned from the textbooks [Dr Fauci ] authored [and] used by students all over the world.”
“By ‘doctors everywhere’, he means a few doctors here and there who are willing to go against the Hippocratic oath and against science. The rest of us are with Dr Fauci,” said wellness physician Arghavan Salles.
Fred Guttenberg, who lost his daughter Jaime in the Parkland shooting, called Dr Oz “wrong” as he asked him to “go back to your reality TV show and your pathetic campaign”.
“Stop putting the lives of Americans in danger,” he tweeted.
“Please report this tweet as misinformation for health. We have to shut this quack down,” wrote another user.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments