John Fetterman doubles down on Dr Oz ‘puppy killer’ attacks

The two will square off in a debate later this month

Democratic Senate nominee John Fetterman doubled down on his attacks against Republican Senate nominee Mehmet Oz regarding alleged animal research, in an interview.

Mr Fetterman spoke in an interview on the No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen podcast. The Democratic lieutenant governor cited an article by feminist website Jezebel that reviewed 75 studies published by the retired celebrity physician between 1989 and 2010 when he was a principal investigator at Columbia University’s Institute for Comparative Medicine labs.

The article alleged that the research killed at least 300 dogs and the United States Department of Agriculture ordered Columbia University to pay a $2,000, which Mr Fetterman cited.

“It’s disturbing to say the least, and the fact that Columbia actually had to pay a fine because the violence, it was excessive, and again, it’s disturbing,” he said. “And it’s something that Dr Oz refuses to answer for or ignore.”

Mr Fetterman said that he could not imagine either Democrats or Republicans getting behind Dr Oz.

“Are they the pro-’let dogs suffer’ plank in the platform,” he said. “It’s just again, nothing that he’ll acknowledge and it’s shocking.”

Earlier this month, Mr Fetterman labelled Dr Oz a “puppy killer”.

The Independent reached out last week for comment from Dr Oz’s campaign.

The two candidates are locked in one of the most bitter Senate races in the country to replace retiring Republican Senator Pat Toomey. Polling has shown that Dr Oz has narrowed the gap in his race against Mr Fetterman thanks to a barrage of ads painting him as weak on crime and coalescing support among Republican voters who were previously wary of him.

Mr Fetterman and Dr Oz will square off in the sole debate on 25 October in Harrisburg after Mr Fetterman pulled out of a debate after Dr Oz’s campaign released a statement seeming to mock Mr Fetterman’s health concerns after he suffered a stroke.