During a campaign stop in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday, Dr. Mehmet Oz vowed to bring people together and end partisan bickering in Washington.
“When I travel around Pennsylvania, I don’t hear people telling me to go beat up on Democrats,” Oz said.
“Heck, we’re a purple state; your neighbors are Democrats,“ the Republican candidate stated. ”And by the way, they’re going to vote for us in this election. What I hear over and over again is, ‘go there and fix the problems.’”
Three Big Issues
The first issue, he said, is the economy. “Inflation is a self-inflicted wound,” Oz said. “The taxes that they’re now throwing at us are to make up for the fact they weren’t willing to make the tough decisions about the Fed. And John Fetterman, when he raised taxes as mayor, when he argued to raise taxes … as lieutenant governor for the state, and when he supported the Biden tax increase that just recently happened—he did all that [while] not willing to acknowledge that he hadn’t paid his own taxes 67 times. It’s easy to raise taxes when you’re not paying your own. But taxes are a problem that imposes pain on people already struggling with inflation they can’t match.”The second is crime. Law enforcement officials are tired of far-left political leaders not supporting them, Oz said. He spoke of the increased crime rate in Philadelphia that makes it unsafe for children. “Parents can’t let their kids go outside. They tell me they buy video games for them now. It’s too dangerous. For North Philly, I did a prayer vigil. The pastor said it’s easier for him to buy fentanyl than baby formula,” he said. “And the police aren’t being supported, so they’re retiring in high numbers. We can’t recruit more. The solution is [to] let people do their jobs, which is what I want to do—let police do their jobs” Pennsylvanians don’t want to be part of a social experiment, he added. It is better to let police and prosecutors do their jobs.
“John Fetterman and I differ because he’s taking pretty strong stances about wanting to release people convicted of murder by a jury, [and] sentenced to life in prison,” Oz said. “He wants them to be released over the objections of other parole board members and the families.”
The third issue he listed is drugs. Fetterman has said he wants to decriminalize them.
“Oregon actually did this experiment. Fetterman supported it,” Oz said. The result was a big increase in homicide rates. “I don’t want to do this little experiment, and then have people pay with their lives.”
Oz said all of these issues are addressable. And he made some promises.
“I‘ll unite us. I’ll bring balance, and I'll address the challenges that we’re facing,” Oz said. “We will work across the aisle with folks who don’t share all of our opinions, to find common places to address the challenge we face that we’re on the same page.
Supporters Say Oz Understands the Issues
Bensalem business owner Paul Singh attended the rally in support of Oz.“I believe that everything that Democrats are doing—inflation, border crisis, and crime in blue states and cities—Republicans can fix that,” Singh told The Epoch Times. “They support the police officers. They will give them all the equipment that’s needed.
“And it’s also immigration. You don’t know who’s coming into this country. It could be drug cartels, MS-13. Human trafficking is high in this country. So we need to close that border, and the Republicans are all for that.”
Singh, himself an immigrant, says his father came in through legal channels and worked hard to get where he is today. “We’re blessed with what this country has given to my father and my mother and most of my family.”
Lee Henry, who works in sales, says she feels confident Oz will win the Senate race.
“He has a pulse on the issues, and I think the public recognizes that,” Henry told The Epoch Times. “He acknowledges what’s happening in the country and also locally, and I think that people sense that and they understand that he will represent us.”
Lee added that criminals should not be ignored when they commit crimes. They should be held accountable by prosecutors following the penalties for crimes.
