Cousin Sex, Crudités, Fat Jokes About Stroke Victims: Dr. Oz’s Most WTF Moments

With just over two months to go until Pennsylvania’s US Senate election, polls show Mehmet Oz trailing Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman by anywhere from a few to double-digit points, a situation that appears to be of grave concern to Republicans, including Donald Trump, who has reportedly told confidants that Oz will “fucking lose” unless he can pull off a Hail Mary. How to account for the doctor’s poor showing? Perhaps it’s his position that abortion is “murder” at any stage of pregnancy. Or maybe it’s his claim that carbon dioxide is not a big deal re: climate change. Possibly still, it could be his cynical about-face on everything from transgender issues to gun control, or the fact that his opponent has run an extremely online campaign, and has trolled him at every turn. It could be any or all of these things, but it’s also just as likely that voters’ aversion to the TV doctor turned Senate candidate is simply based on the fact that he can’t stop doing things that send shivers of secondhand embarrassment down their spines on a near-daily basis.

Missed the cringiest of the cringe? Here’s a quick guide.

The “Wegners” Crudités Video

Last April, Oz shot a video at a grocery store. Initially, it didn‘t attract much attention, which, for the doctor, was a good thing. When it resurfaced in August, it went viral and in a distinctly not good way. In the clip, Oz tells viewers he’s at “Wegners,” an establishment that does not actually exist. That was unfortunate given the fact that (1) Redner’s, where he actually was, is a well-known chain of stores in Pennsylvania, where he claims to live, and (2) he seemingly combined the name “Redner’s” with “Wegmans,” a chain of grocery stores found throughout the Northeast, including in New Jersey, where his opponent says he actually lives. Naturally, things only got worse from there.

Telling viewers he stopped by to pick up some vegetables for his wife, who was in the mood for “crudités,” Oz proceeds to randomly grab broccoli, carrots, asparagus, guacamole, and salsa, expressing shock at how expensive they are, for which he blames President Joe Biden. “Here’s a broccoli,” Oz says, betraying no sign that he’s done any grocery shopping in the last 20 years. “Two bucks…here’s some asparagus, that’s $4. Carrots, thats four more dollars…that’s $10 of vegetables there. We need some guacamole, that’s $4 more, and she loves salsa, salsa there—$6?! There must be a shortage of of salsa…guys, that’s $20 for crudités. And this doesn’t include the tequila. That’s outrageous—and we got Joe Biden to thank for this.”

As so many people remarked last month, it’s not clear who, exactly, this video was trying to appeal to. Did the Oz team think voters were going to repost and sincerely tweet, “Finally, a politician who gets it! Nobody f–ks with my crudités!”? Did they think it was going to connect with the Everyman, who works a hard day and just wants to kick back with an artfully arranged tray of veggies? Do a lot of people like to munch on raw asparagus?

Then there was the minor matter of the fact that Oz seemingly got most of the prices wrong. Broccoli, as people who have gone shopping before know, is typically not priced per head but per pound. The salsa wasn’t $5.99, that was the price of the bruschetta next to it. The salsa was actually $4.99, and Oz could have saved all of those dollars and all of those cents if he or anyone on his staff had realized before filming that no one dips their carrots, asparagus, or broccoli in salsa.

Finally, there was the suggestion that it’s common knowledge everyone pairs crudités with tequila, and that we have Joe Biden to thank for ruining this little appetizer of horrors.

The Attempt to Explain Away the “Wegners” Crudités Video

Appearing on Newsmax, Oz told the host that he got the name of the store wrong because: “I was exhausted. When you’re campaigning 18 hours a day…. Listen, I’ve gotten my kids’ names wrong as well. I don’t think that’s a measure of someone’s ability to lead the commonwealth.” He did not address the suggestion that salsa goes with asparagus.

The Whole Actually–Being–From–New Jersey Thing