Mehmet Oz tried to troll John Fetterman’s attack tweets with a “Shawshank Redemption” reference Wednesday — but it all went down the toilet.
The former TV doctor and current Pennsylvania Senate candidate attacked his Democratic opponent for not releasing his medical records regarding his stroke earlier this year.
“For those keeping track at home, this refusal marks 15 times today that he has dodged questions about requests to release records. What is he hiding?” Oz tweeted.
Fetterman quickly clapped back by noting that the video Oz featured in the tweet was from an interview that Oz declined to participate in.
“You skipped this interview. I showed up. Which of your 10 basements were you hiding out in today?” Fetterman asked.
Oz responded with a GIF of Morgan Freeman from “The Shawshank Redemption” saying, “I don’t give a shit,” along with a YouTube link showing a clip from a recent NBC News interview with Fetterman.
In the clip, Fetterman is discussing the concept of redemption for those in prison as it relates to Freeman’s character in the film. The Democratic Senate candidate, who has been open about auditory processing difficulties while recovering from his stroke, stumbles over some words.
Oz and his fellow Republicans have gone on the attack over his opponent’s health, while disability advocates say that questioning Fetterman’s political fitness over requiring accommodations like closed captioning in interviews is discriminatory.
It was hard to tell what message Oz was trying to send: Did he not “give a shit” about doing interviews with in-state media? Did he not “give a shit” about Fetterman’s interview? And, most important, did he not “give a shit” about winning the election?
It seemed straight out of the mixed messages handbook pioneered by Melania Trump when she wore her infamous jacket with the phrase “I REALLY DON’T CARE, DO U?” while visiting migrant children.
The Oz campaign did not explain what their candidate did “not give a shit” about, whether it was redemption or Fetterman’s interest in “The Shawshank Redemption,” but pointed again to the YouTube link in Oz’s tweet.
Still, Twitter users had thoughts about the shitty retort.