Trump struggling to convince his apprehensive supporters to back Dr. Oz's Senate bid

Former President Donald Trump recently attempted to convince his skeptical supporters that Dr. Mehmet Oz is a viable candidate for the U.S. Senate. According to HuffPost, the former president attended a rally on Friday, May 6 in support of Oz where the crowd of Trump supporters responded with boos of disapproval.

In response to the disapproval, Oz attempted to sway the crowd with a remark targeting President Joe Biden. “I love you guys, Pennsylvania!” he declared. “I love that you’re out here in the rain in Westmoreland, and I know why you’re excited: Because the only thing that Joe Biden has built back better is the Republican Party. Do I have it right?”

The audience, which was filled with die-hard Trump fans who only attended to hear the former president speak, reacted with lackluster applause. Speaking to HuffPost, rallygoers shared their reactions to Oz and many admitted they were on the fence about him.

“I think he’s Hollywood,” said Timothy Lohr, a truck driver in Westmoreland County, Penn. “That’s just my opinion. I don’t like Hollywood.”

Dave Popola, a coal mining machinist, also expressed apprehension about Oz. “In his past, he spent a lot of time with the left,” said Popola. “He was hanging around with the Obamas way too much, and Obama tanked the coal industry the first time.”

At one point during the rally, Trump attempted to discredit Oz's opponent, Dave McCormick, a hedge fund manager whose allies have relatively deep pockets.

“So I don’t know David well and he may be a nice guy, but he’s not MAGA, he’s not MAGA,” Trump said as he referred to his own campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again.” “I do know that he was with a company that managed money for communist China, and he is absolutely the candidate of special interests and globalists and the Washington establishment.”

Trump continued, “As your senator, Oz will fight to end illegal immigration, end sanctuary cities, and put dangerous criminals behind bars. That’s what he wants to do. He’s going to stop the Democrats, socialists, and communists, and confront China like no senator in the history of our state.”

He also added, “I’ve known him a long time. He’s on that screen,” Trump said. “He’s in the bedrooms of all those women, telling them good and bad. And they love him.”

Republican primary winner J.D. Vance also joined Oz and Trump on Friday. “It’s not about Dr. Oz,” Vance said. “It’s not about anything other than you and Donald Trump.”

He added that a faction of top Republicans is “trying to make it so that Trump-endorsed candidates get defeated because when they do, the fake news media back there will say, ‘Well, Donald Trump’s endorsement doesn’t matter.'”