The Pennsylvania Senate race has been chaotic. John Fetterman is a born-and-bred Pennsylvanian who has worked in the trenches of local PA politics for years. Fetterman’s opponent Mehmet Oz is a New Jersey resident who complains of the crudite prices at Wegner’s, a grocery store which does not exist. Dr. Oz is the kind of medical doctor who believes that local political leaders should have their say on family medical decisions, especially when it comes to reproductive issues. Dr. Oz was platformed for years by Oprah Winfrey – she pulled him out of relative obscurity, gave him recurring appearances on her talk show, and created his stand-alone daytime show. For months, people have wondered if Oprah would say anything about the Pennsylvania Senate race. Finally, on Thursday, she did. She endorsed Fetterman.
Ahead of the midterm elections, Oprah Winfrey hosted “A Virtual Voting Conversation” on Nov. 3, where she and community leaders discussed the importance of voting during the critical election. During the candid conversation, Winfrey stressed having a plan and casting one’s ballot, as well as the issues that are at stake.
“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 added.
During the tail end of her conversation, Winfrey announced her support of Democrat John Fetterman, who is running for Senate against Republican Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania.
She noted that there are “many reasons” why she was putting her support behind Fetterman over the celebrity doctor, but that he was not the only candidate she backed.
“That is not the only race that matters. If I was in North Carolina… sister (Cheri) Beasley there, and if I was in Florida, I’d be supporting Val Demings. If I was in Wisconsin, it would be Mandela Barnes, in Nevada it would be Catherine Cortez Masto,” Winfrey said. “And in Texas, Beto O’Rourke, and Raphael Warnock and the incredible Stacey Abrams, of course, in Georgia.”
“So there are clear choices out there and some dynamic candidates who are working to represent the values — this is what we’re talking about — the values that we hold dear, the values of inclusion, the values of compassion and community that so many of us share,” she continued. “So use your discernment, which seems to be missing in a lot of our, our our country today. Use your discernment and choose wisely for the democracy of our country.”
Good. I’m sure many Pennsylvanians had already made up their minds about who they will vote for, but I’m glad Oprah endorsed Fetterman and that she went through the list of races she’s watching. She’s absolutely right – Fetterman, Beasley, Abrams, O’Rourke, Warnock, Demings, Barnes and Cortez Masto all need that extra push in the final days. I believe that the midterms will see a wave of new voters and single-issue voters reacting to the overturn of Roe. Vote. Vote. Vote.
WELCOME TO #TEAMFETTERMAN, @Oprah!! 🥰 https://t.co/ZSYnEiNTZz
— John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) November 4, 2022
This just in: pic.twitter.com/Pg0ivpgM4v
— Bob Casey Jr. (@Bob_Casey) November 4, 2022
#NewProfilePic pic.twitter.com/mla50A5HWa
— John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) November 4, 2022
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, JPI Studios / Avalon.
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- Oprah Winfrey attends the premiere of Apple TV +’s “Sidney” at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on September 21, 2022 in Los Angeles, California,Image: 725112936, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Oprah Winfrey, Credit line: – / JPI Studios / Avalon
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Way too little, way too late.
I came here to say the exact same thing. She should have done this MONTHS ago.
For real.
And if we’re being honest, while I understand there are probably some legal and reputation-based reasons she hasn’t, she should have gone after Dr Oz much, much earlier than this. He’s a quack and she sold him as legit. Own up to your mistakes, Oprah.
Ditto. Even a week or two ago it would have helped more. This is way too little, way too late.
That’s what I thought too. Even a week ago would have been better but this comes after the deadline for mail-in voting has passed in the states that allow it. Come on now, what even is this? An ass covering thing because she is partially responsible? Genuine question. Why now when it’s pretty useless? I’m not giving her any better late than never credit. She shirked a huge responsibility and this doesn’t cut it.
Oprah is not responsible for Dr. Oz’s bad choices.
She is responsible for giving him a platform. He wouldn’t be in this race if she didn’t make him famous. Please don’t be obtuse, she has culpability in this one and she blew an opportunity to correct a problem she had a hand in creating.
Bookie, completely agree. She isn’t in control of other people.
As a white woman, I don’t think it’s a good look to blame Black women for white men’s choices. She gave him a platform years ago when, without being psychic, she couldn’t have predicted he would go full fascist. She’s doing the right thing now. Better late than never.
Never would I suggest she was. She is, however responsible for her own actions and those have quite clearly had negative consequences that she has never even acknowledged.
To simply say that she isn’t responsible or like Brassy Rebel that she couldn’t have predicted he’d wind up this way is to ignore what he was doing at the time. Oprah Winfrey owed it to the millions and millions of people who watched her show to vet and research the people she endorsed. She did not do that. I don’t blame her for Oz’s candidacy or his policy choices. I blame her for the years and years of supporting non-scientific, actively harmful medical ‘cures’ and frauds she positioned as voices of authority. I don’t think you could convince me that she shouldn’t have gone after Oz on those grounds long ago.
@A +1
Well said!
@A, completely agree. I have worked in health care for the past 20 years and it is alarming how the Oz/Oprah medical misinformation train has taken over. A lot of misinformation on both of their parts was spread over the years. We are still feeling that effect in primary care medicine unfortunately.
Oprah didnt know he was going to be whack, she can’t be responsible. Just like we loved brad pitt, we couldn’t have known he was gonna be an abuser.
Agreed. For the entirety of Oprah’s daily talk show, he was just the guy that showed up with purple or blue gloves to snap on, while he explained why the brain/penis/bladder/whatever that was on the tray before them killed its original owner.
This would be like blaming NBC for Donald Trump.
He used to be a respected cardiothoracic surgeon. I agree with the other posters. Oprah isn’t psychic.
Exactly. Early voting is almost over. She should have spoken up a month ago. Or used some of her billions of dollars to build a time machine and go back to stop her younger self from platforming oz in the first place.
Thank you, Oprah! And thanks for all the money she’s no doubt donated to Dem campaigns. Maybe she believed getting involved would pull attention from the candidates themselves. I’m not bagging on her for not coming forward sooner, ffs there’s plenty of other things to expend your energy on. Yeah this attitude hacks me off.
Will Ferrell, of all people, came to Houston to block walk for Beto. Have to put this out there so anyone else knows
Love that!! Made my day.
This is good news but…. early voting is almost over. Lots of people have already voted. This would have been even better if she’d said it a little sooner.
I’m in Texas and hoping Beto will win. The agony of waiting is so hard. He has busted his butt for months and months getting out and meeting people. I just hope Texas pulls through.
I hope with every fiber of my being that Beto wins. Election night is going to be brutal on our hearts and minds.
I can’t even think about it. My husband is a pessimist (about most things, not just this) and I screeched at him the other night because he won’t stop talking about it. I have told him nicely that I can’t talk about it because it makes me anxious, then I told him firmly, then I finally told him to keep his mouth shut about politics. Usually I am calm and even-tempered, but I canNOT right now.
Please, please, PLEASE let Beto win. Please.
I voted blue all the way. I hope people get their butts out to vote. It just boggles my mind that people don’t even bother.
I cannot figure out why anti-Muslim Republicans in Pennsylvania are strongly backing a Muslim. Is being Muslim okay as long as you’re willing to support the party’s efforts to cancel rights, autonomy, and separation of church and state?
I doubt they even know he’s Muslim.
He’s Muslim-lite.
In Pennsylvania you have blue cities (Pittsburgh, Philidelphia) and ‘Alabama’ in between them. Sometimes it’s called Pennsyltucky. The R next to Oz’s name is carrying him in those counties.
@Truthiness, you are spot on. That is true of many states in this region. One thing you have to say for the Republican Party, they vote the party line and don’t let inner party drama affect the voting block. Wish the Dems could align like this.
Thanks, Oprah! Early voting is coming to a close, but plenty of people still haven’t cast ballots.
I will never understand the vitriol Oprah gets for platforming Dr. Oz & Dr. Phil. She’s a Black woman platforming people who make her money in our (inherently white supremacist) capitalist system. Blame Dr. Oz & Dr. Phil (who has mercifully stayed out of politics thus far). Blame the viewers who tune in. Blame the advertisers. But let Oprah thrive in a system that never meant for her to do so.
Where does this argument leave the people of color who watched her show? The people who were not able to follow scientific or medical research on their own? The people who look to TV doctors because they don’t have regular, affordable access to care? The doctors who made her money did so by scamming other people trapped in a system in which they weren’t meant to thrive.
Oprah Winfrey did thrive in a system that was designed to keep women like her as far from power or influence as possible. No one should argue that that’s bad or she was wrong to do so. But the other side of that coin is that she did gain power and influence. And if her show caused harm, and it did, she’s not above criticism for that.
I love that Oprah did this and I imagine Oz is pissed with no one but himself to blame. What I love even more are the speeches Obama has been giving in the swing states, those speeches have been 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥. I don’t remember Obama yelling before but now I sure have.
Does anyone else feel that even the best serving dems and left leaning celebrities and millionaires don’t actually want change? They’re happy making Republicans the bad guys but barely do the minimum and it’s to ensure they look better.
The bar is low so it doesn’t take much to make them appear as on our side but I question why it’s always a little too late or just not quite enough.
It’s my late night thoughts haha
I think more than a 2 party system is needed. Denmark does it awesome
I went with my uncle this morning to vote. He is 55 years old and today was this first time in his life he’s ever voted. If I had not registered him and asked, he likely wouldn’t have bothered, but he knows politics are very important to me even when an election where my ability to access healthcare is not hanging in the balance, so he agreed without issue.
I’m going to take my grandmother, also traditionally apathetic politically until recent years, to vote on Tuesday.
I’m personally terrified about the midterm elections. I live in California and for the first time, I’m going to make sure to be THOROUGHLY informed on all the propositions and how they will affect people. The commercials about them can be very misleading, so………
Also, while I am absolutely terrified about the midterms, I do want to say that I have a LOT of faith in the generation that has come after me (I’m in my late 30s). I think that REAL, societal change only happens with each generation (I KNOW that my generation is less problematic than my parents, although definitely still problematic) , and I am very optimistic about the young people today, and what we will see when they reach the age to vote. Plus by then the boomers generation will have mostly died off, and I don’t mean that in a morbid or uncaring way, I’m just being factual. Mitch McConnell and his ilk probably won’t be alive in 20 years. That’s a fact.
At the eleventh hour…
What kind of person would bus migrants to to NYC when he knows they will get lost in the shuffle, just to stick it to the Dems? Assholes like Greg Abbott.
We need Beto. I stood in a two hour line to vote for him and every other Democrat down ballot last week. I know it’s a hail Mary pass because it’s Texas, but I can only hope Republicans have finally pushed everyone too far.