Dr. Mehmet Oz, a Republican millionaire best known for pushing conspiracy theories and endorsing unproven products and non-scientific advice who is running in the 2022 Senate election in Pennsylvania, was perfectly trolled by his Democratic opponent over his ties to New Jersey and minimal ties to Pennsylvania.
Earlier, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Oz lived in North Jersey for more than three decades. And while Oz has said he moved to Pennsylvania in 2020 and lived with his in-laws, his social media posts and campaign ads have showed him still in New Jersey.
These facts prompted Oz's opponent, John Fetterman to enlist none other than Nicole "Snooki" LaValle — best known for starring on the reality series Jersey Shore — to troll him for living in the state.
Fetterman uploaded to social media a video of Snooki that appears to have been taken with the online service Cameo, which allows users to access thousands of celebrities and request personalized video messages for any ocassions.
While it is unclear if Snooki knew her video would be used to publicly attack a political candidate, Fetterman's campaign has frequently criticized Oz's New Jersey ties as part of its own social media campaigns.
You can watch the video below.
Snooki, facing the camera, says:
"Hey, Mehmet! This is Nicole "Snooki" and I'm from Jersey Shore. I don't know if you've seen it before but I'm a hot mess on a reality show basically and I enjoy life."
"But I heard that you moved from New Jersey to Pennsylvania to look for a new job, and personally I don't know why anyone would wanna leave Jersey 'cause it's like the best place ever and we're all hot messes, but I want to say best of luck to you."
"I know you're away from home and you're in a new place but Jersey will never forget you."
"I just wanna let you know I will not forget you. But don't worry! You'll be back in Jersey soon. This is only temporary."
"So good luck, you got this, and Jersey loves you!"
Fetterman's campaign has devoted significant time to criticizing Oz on social media since Fetterman had to leave the trail after suffering a near-fatal stroke in May.
The video soon went viral and as far as many were concerned, it was clearly an example of smart social media campaigning.
Oz has spent much of his campaign criticizing President Joe Biden, whom he infamously once tried to blame for the price of groceries.
Earlier this year, the Biden administration fired Oz from his post on the President's Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition, saying that the decision was made because it is against the administration's policy to have federal candidates sit on presidential councils.
Oz lashed out afterward, claiming that his firing was politically motivated, and vowed that "The Woke Left will not silence or stop me from being a bold, conservative voice in the U.S. Senate."
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