Dr. Mehmet Oz seems determined to make it out of the Pennsylvania Senate race without a shred of dignity left to his name. He’s mocked and attacked the health of his opponent John Fetterman after the Democrat suffered a stroke; he’s had embarrassing attempts to paint himself as a crudités-loving everyman go mega-viral; most recently, he’s had old insensitive and downright icky comments about incest resurface.
Now it turns out Oz’s campaign has been hiring actors to dress in orange prison jumpsuits and pose as convicted felons who support Fetterman’s candidacy. These actors are present at rallies, holding signs reading “Inmates for Fetterman” and “Another Convicted Felon for Fetterman.”
Newsweek reported on the concept after one of these “actors” posted pictures of one event to his Instagram, calling it “one of the greatest things I’ve ever done in politics yet.”
So Dr. Oz is paying people to pretend to be felons in support of John Fetterman? This is gross. pic.twitter.com/6kMq61802u
— PatriotTakes (@patriottakes) September 6, 2022
And while those costumes border on cartoonish, that actor also wrote, “I can’t believe how many idiots thought I was legit out of jail.”
It definitely is the goal of the Oz campaign to convince voters that Fetterman wants nothing more than to release violent criminals into their own individual backyards. In addition to the live event stunts, Oz launched inmatesforfetterman.com, which accuses Fetterman of “releasing convicted murderers.”
In reality, the people highlighted on Oz’s page are formerly incarcerated people that Fetterman—in his role as chair of the Board of Pardons—recommended to the governor for commutation of their sentences. Fetterman even hired two of those formerly incarcerated people to the board.
“This is the first time in the history of commutations in Pennsylvania, and possibly the nation, that former offenders will fill these roles,” Fetterman said of those hirings back in 2019 when they happened. “No one is more suitable for these positions than two people who have gone through the process and who have valuable institutional knowledge. We’re grateful to have them on the team.”
Oz has repeatedly accused Fetterman of being “soft on crime,” of wanting to “eliminate life sentences for murderers,” and of hiring “convicted murderers” to his campaign staff. All of those accusations have been fully debunked by multiple fact-checkers. Fetterman’s goal, as he himself put it, is “restoring justice for those serving these unbalanced sentences,” focusing on people who can be considered rehabilitated by any standard after serving decades in prison.
So on one side of this election, we have someone dedicated to making sure actual justice is being considered, and on the other, we have someone committed to mocking and disparaging incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people.
While we’re on the subject, someone should probably tell Dr. Oz that the idea of formerly incarcerated people are actually able to vote in Pennsylvania, and that their right to elect someone who exhibits compassion towards them rather than mockery is not a joke.
(image: Mark Makela/Getty Images)
