Mehmet Oz, celebrity physician and U.S. Republican Senate candidate for Pennsylvania, takes photos with attendees during a campaign event in Bristol, Pennsylvania, U.S., on Thursday, April 21, 2022.
Oz, known for his one-time television program the D (Ryan Collerd/Bloomberg via Getty Images)HARRISBURG, Pa. - Candidates for the Republican nomination for Pennsylvania’s open U.S.
Senate seat charged into Monday night's live-televised prime-time debate with extra incentive to attack Mehmet Oz after the celebrity heart surgeon received former President Donald Trump's endorsement.And attack they did, almost solidly throughout the one-hour debate at the studio of WHTM-TV with barely three weeks to go to the May 17 primary election.Ex-hedge fund CEO David McCormick called Oz a "flip-flopper" to suggest that he is pretending to be a conservative.Former Trump ambassador Carla Sands called him "Turkey First" — as a play on Trump's "America First" governing philosophy — to highlight Oz's Turkish citizenship.And conservative activist Kathy Barnette said Trump only endorsed Oz because Oz is well-known.RELATED: Trump endorses Oz in Pennsylvania's Senate primary raceTrump earlier this month endorsed Oz — best known as daytime TV’s host of "The Dr.
Oz Show" — and the Trump endorsement hovered over the debate. Oz raised it repeatedly, just hours after Trump announced that he will come to western Pennsylvania next week for a rally to promote Oz.Oz gamely defended himself.