What is crudité? John Fetterman raises funds after Dr Oz’s bizarre viral Twitter video
The Pennsylvania Senate race is heating up and both candidates have taken to social media in the hope of gaining an edge on their opponent.
The midterm election for one of Pennsylvania’s seats in the Senate has become perhaps the most closely watched in the nation. It is a race where both parties will think they have a chance to deal a crucial blow in the battle for Washington supremacy.
Current Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman has mocked his Republican opponent Mehmet Oz this week and claimed to have raised more than $500,000 dollars with a run of campaign stickers targeting an odd video posted online. The GOP candidate, commonly known as Dr Oz, posted a Twitter video in which he warned that the price of “crudité” had soared under President Biden.
Crudités are a French appetizer of raw vegetables with dipping sauce. The new sticker launched in the aftermath of Oz’s video reads “Let Them Eat Crudité.”
Oz’s attempt at securing some vital political ‘cut-through’ quickly backfired when his video was roundly mocked online. The 62-year-old recorded himself picking up broccoli, asparagus and carrots for $10, before adding another $10 with tubs of guacamole and salsa.
“Guys, that’s $20 for crudités and this doesn’t include the tequila,” Oz said. “This is outrageous and we’ve got Joe Biden to thank for this.”
A tale of two candidates
Twitter users were quick to point to a number of missteps in the carefully curated video. Firstly, Oz tells the camera that he’s doing his grocery shopping at “Wegners,” despite a sign reading ‘Redner’s’, a Pennsylvania-based store, in the background.
His choice of food stuff also left many viewers puzzled, as did his suggestion that he would be pairing the vegetable medley with a bottle of tequila. These errors will likely reinforce an image that is being pushed by Fetterman’s team, that Oz is a transplant from the state of New Jersey who does not understand Pennsylvania.
Oz was only able to run in Pennsylvania after moving into his in-laws’ home in the state, a key feature of many attack ads launched by Fetterman’s campaign. He ran with this idea on Monday, mocking his opponent on Twitter.
“In PA we call this a... veggie tray,” he wrote on Twitter Monday, adding, “Dr. Oz regularly shops for crudités at the Wegners in Huntington Valley.”
The two candidates could hardly be more contrasting in their ideology, personality and political backgrounds. Fetterman, a 6ft9 progressive with shaved head and tattooed arms, has close links to the state of Pennsylvania and wants to institute a national government health insurance program.
Dr Oz on the other hand rose to fame with a daytime television show with ran for 13 seasons. He was appointed to the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition by President Donald Trump and has won the endorsement of the former President while running for the Senate.
But despite the weight of Trump’s support, Oz was trailing by more than 10 points in a poll published earlier this month and looks unlikely to overturn the affection for Pennsylvania-born Fetterman ahead of November’s primaries.