Why Oprah Dumped Dr. Oz

Months ago I actually wrote that I felt that Oprah had a responsibility to repudiate Dr. Oz. Now that she has, having said yesterday that she strongly endorsed Oz’s opponent John Fetterman for Senate in Pennsylvania, I want to explain why.

For the last few months I have been struggling with my own conscience. Could I really come out against such a close friend as Dr. Oz in his campaign for Senate in Pennsylvania? Aren’t friends supposed to stick together.

First there was the fact that amid my taking Dr. Oz and his family on a private plane to Israel, he would barely make a single positive comment about Israel in his campaign and refused to do any events dedicated to Israel’s support.

Then there was the election denial, with Dr. Oz winning President Trump’s endorsement by denying the results of the 2020 election. Lest President Trump think that Oz would show any gratitude, the next thing was Dr. Oz deleting any mention of the former President the morning after the Republican primary.

The rotten values just kept on coming.

Next was Dr. Oz firing an AR-15 in a TV commercial, the same week as the Uvalde massacre. Oz would of course go on to even mock his opponent John Fetterman for having a near fatal stroke, even as Fetterman is the father of three young children.

But what persuaded me that I had to go public was when Dr. Oz denied the Armenian Genocide, probably because Oz seems terrified of Turkey’s head of State, of which he is a citizen, Recep Erdogan, one of the most evil dictators in the world. The US Senate had voted in 2019 unanimously to recognize the genocide, 100 to 0. Oz would be the first Senator, should he be elected, to be a genocide denier.

I am Jewish. Every day of my life I mourn the six million of the holocaust. I decided I would fight Oz and his genocide denial with every means at my disposal. The Armenians are my brothers and sisters. Would I not expect the same of them if a holocaust denier was running for office?

Dr. Oz and I met through Oprah. We both hosted daily shows on the Oprah and Friends Radio Network. Oz was a good man back then and an excellent physician. Through Oprah he became world famous and “America’s Doctor.”

But now, put yourself in Oprah’s shoes. OK, Dr. Oz is running as a Republican and Oprah is a Democrat. No big deal. The country needs two parties. Oprah said as much when she was first asked about Dr. Oz’s campaign.

But then comes Dr. Oz, whom Oprah promoted to the whole word as a caring physician, actually mocking a 53 year old father of three for having a stroke! That’s just nauseating. What kind of disgusting physician would ever do that?

I’m guessing, only one who puts the acquisition of power before anything else.

Next, Oprah watches a world famous Doctor whom she helped create running around on TV with an assault rifle? Are you kidding me? Is he mad?

It’s one thing to embrace the Second Amendment. I do. But an assault rifle? A surgeon? On TV?

Next, Oprah is entertained to the spectacle of Dr. Oz denying the 2020 election. What becomes of America if people don’t believe that their vote is real or that any candidate is legitimate? Answer, the country goes down the toilet. And Dr. Oz would even embrace the “Stop the Steal” stuff to get into the Senate?

Oh, and the coup de grace. Dr. Oz doing a fundraiser in California literally in front of Hitler’s Mercedes Benz.You can’t make this stuff up.

The list goes on and on. A campaign that is a values abomination.

So Oprah, being the extremely moral person she is, decides that she has to end this. Let Dr. Oz go in the direction in he wishes. But she will no longer be silent. She can’t watch something that she created and elevated trample on the values she holds dear.

She’s right.

And it’s exactly how I felt and why I took the same action.

It was one of the great honors of my life to work for Oprah. She is excellent in everything she does. She has the most exception moral core and she is a woman of dignity, grace, and goodness. Most of all, she’s authentic, which is how she has lasted all these decades at the center of the American heart.

I’m sure she found it extremely difficult to repudiate a good friend. But Dr. Oz alone is to blame. He made the choices to make his campaign all about power at any cost.

Our country deserves better.

God bless you Oprah.

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, “America’s Rabbi” whom The Washington Post calls “the most famous Rabbi in America,” is the international best-selling author or 36 books including “Ten Conversations You Need to Have with Your Children” which he launched on the Oprah TV Show. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter RabbiShmuley.