Former TV doctor-turned-Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz is reportedly paying actors to try and get voters to like him.
Oz, the Republican opponent of Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, has hired people to “play the role of a felon” and hold up signs to mock his Democratic rival, Newsweek reported.
Colin Matthews wrote in an Instagram post last week that the Oz campaign hired him to support Fetterman as a convicted felon and he couldn’t “believe how many idiots thought I was legit out of jail.”
The move appears to be part of a stunt for the Oz campaign. Brittany Yanick, the campaign’s communications director, even shared a tweet about an “Inmates for Fetterman” initiative from reporter Justin Sweitzer last week.
Oz has called his opponent “soft on crime” during the campaign but, as Factcheck.org noted, the claim stretches the facts.
Check out a PatriotTakes thread about the alleged actors, holding signs that read: “Paid for by Doctor Oz For Senate,” below:
The move to reportedly hire actors for his campaign comes weeks after an Oz campaign staffer mocked Fetterman for having a stroke. Oz didn’t condemn the staffer’s comments but said his opponent should be allowed to “recover fully.”
HuffPost has reached out to the Oz and Fetterman campaigns for comment on the “inmates” initiative.