Democratic Pennsylvania Senate candidate John Fetterman has made bank for his campaign by continually casting his Republican opponent, television personality Dr. Mehmet Oz, as an out-of-touch gazillionaire celebrity who knows nothing about Pennsylvania.
He's been helped by the fact that Oz isn't even from Pennsylvania, but rather New Jersey, where he still appears to live--in a mansion, no less.
But in recent days Fetterman expertly resurfaced an old cringey video of Oz shopping for "crudité" in a Pennsylvania supermarket, the name of which he completely botched, in order to blame high food prices on Democrats.
\u201cThe ridiculous performance artist that is Mehmet Oz pretends he is grocery shopping for his wife. With someone filming.\u201d— Ron Filipkowski \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Ron Filipkowski \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1649283885
And Fetterman has been making him absolutely regret it, pointing out that Emperor Oz has no clothes when it comes to his Pennsylvania bona fides, in a series of tweets that has left the internet howling.
First, Fetterman trolled Dr. Oz for using a fancy French term like "crudité" when the common phrase "veggie tray" was right there for the taking.
\u201cIn PA we call this a... veggie tray\u201d— John Fetterman (@John Fetterman) 1660579052
Fetterman wrote, "In PA we call this a ... veggie tray," which is really the least of the problems with Oz's absurd video, seen above.
In the video, rather than spend $10 on a veggie tray like a normal person, Oz chooses to gather together an individual head of broccoli, a bag of whole carrots and a bunch of asparagus, of all things--the weirdness of which is only bested by his choice of salsa and guacamole to dip them in.
Cuz you know how regular people folks love to dip asparagus in guacamole. You can't even swing a cat at a backyard barbecue in Pennsylvania without hitting a normie dipping some 'gus in some guac!
Oz then laments that it all costs $20 even though it "doesn't even include the tequila," whatever that means. As TikTok might say, "Tell me you've never been grocery shopping in your life without telling me you've never been grocery shopping in your life."
But that wasn't even the funniest--or saddest, depending on your view--part of Oz's video.
The grocery store he says he's shopping in, Wegner's? It doesn't exist.
Rather, it's most likely a malapropism in which Oz combined the names of two upscale grocery chains that do exist in Pennsylvania: Redner's and Wegmans.
And you know good and darn well Fetterman had a tweet ready for this, too.
\u201cSupport PA.\n\nBuy Local. \n\nShop Wegners.\u201d— John Fetterman (@John Fetterman) 1660598416
Not to mention merch!
\u201cIf you make a donation of ANY amount, you can get a FREE sticker to show how much you \u2665\ufe0f Wegners and crudit\u00e9 too! https://t.co/8x73VGDSE8\u201d— John Fetterman (@John Fetterman) 1660676277
Perfect.
For someone who claims to know and love Pennsylvania so deeply, Oz sure seems next-level clueless about the lives of the people who live there.
Fetterman drove that point home by sincerely addressing the issue of food prices in a tweet that name-checked two modestly priced grocery stores that actually do exist in Pennsylvania, as opposed to Oz's made-up fancy one.
\u201cI see for myself how expensive groceries are whenever G + I go to Giant Eagle or Aldi\u2019s\n\nDr. Oz does NOT have a plan to bring these prices down, but I do. \n\nStrengthen supply chains + crack down on corporate price gouging + make more sh*t in America \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\nhttps://t.co/JRd0cxxOt2\u201d— John Fetterman (@John Fetterman) 1660589853
On Twitter, Fetterman's tweets drew loud cheers from Pennsylvanians tired of Dr. Oz's disingenuous campaign, who filled his comments with their own trolls of Oz.
\u201c@JohnFetterman https://t.co/8UQ6CerSA9\u201d— John Fetterman (@John Fetterman) 1660598416
\u201c@JohnFetterman https://t.co/cGY14ZCLLD\u201d— John Fetterman (@John Fetterman) 1660598416
\u201c@JohnFetterman https://t.co/R8WGF7CXpo\u201d— John Fetterman (@John Fetterman) 1660598416
\u201c@DownersVille Ah the memories\u2026.\ud83e\udd79\u201d— John Fetterman (@John Fetterman) 1660598416
\u201c@JohnFetterman We also call the supermarket Wegman's, or Redner's, as the case may be.\u201d— John Fetterman (@John Fetterman) 1660579052
\u201c@JohnFetterman https://t.co/HlBYlvKiyZ\u201d— John Fetterman (@John Fetterman) 1660579052
\u201c@JohnFetterman This raises the question: does Dr. Oz's social media team hate his guts?\u201d— John Fetterman (@John Fetterman) 1660579052
And it wasn't just Fetterman trolling Dr. Oz either. A local labor union got in on the game too.
\u201cOur grocery members are always ready to help with all of your c\u0335r\u0335e\u0335w\u0335d\u0335i\u0335t\u0335e\u0335 c\u0335r\u0335o\u0335o\u0335d\u0335i\u0335t\u0335t\u0335a\u0335y\u0335 c\u0335r\u0335u\u0335d\u0335i\u0335t\u0335\u00e8\u0335 vegetable needs.\u201d— UFCW Local 1776 (@UFCW Local 1776) 1660593621
As did activist chef Jose Andres, inviting Dr. Oz to join him for a lesson on how to actually buy groceries.
\u201c.@DrOz I\u2019m inviting you to come with me and shop together! Buy the avocado+tomatoes you can make the guacamole+salsa for 2$ and you can make great vegetable fried rice for 12 people! Less than 1$ per person!\ud83d\ude18#LearnToShopBipartisan\u201d— Jos\u00e9 Andr\u00e9s (@Jos\u00e9 Andr\u00e9s) 1660575665
And someone even created a fake Twitter account for Wegner's that set Dr. Oz straight about "crudité" as well.
\u201cWe repeatedly told @DrOz that we had pre-made veggie trays..excuse me \u201cCrudit\u00e9\u201d\u2026in the deli starting at $5.99. $7.99 with guacamole and salsa. Vote @JohnFetterman!\u201d— Wegner\u2019s Groceries (@Wegner\u2019s Groceries) 1660598909
You'll be unsurprised to know that Fetterman is thus far wiping the floor (of a Wegner's, obvs) with Dr. Oz in the polls--he currently leads by almost 11 points, and the GOP reportedly just canceled more than $5 million dollars in ad spending for Oz's campaign.