‘Nasty’: Jake Tapper Rips Dr. Oz Campaign Comment About John Fetterman’s Stroke

CNN’s Jake Tapper ripped GOP Senate nominee Mehmet Oz on Tuesday, hours after a campaign adviser commented that his opponent might not have suffered a stroke had he eaten healthier.

As Oz’s infamous crudités video continues to remain in the background of the race, Oz’s senior communications advisor Rachel Tripp issued a statement Tuesday aimed at Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D-PA).

“If John Fetterman had ever eaten a vegetable in his life, then maybe he wouldn’t have had a major stroke and wouldn’t be in the position of having to lie about it constantly,” Tripp said.

Fetterman has portrayed Oz as out of touch over the crudités video. He suffered a stroke prior to his landslide primary victory in May, and has only made two public appearances since.

On The Lead, Tapper commented on the latest back-and-forth. The host said:

Lt. Gov John Fetterman, who had a stroke earlier this year and is still reportedly a little shaky on the campaign trail, he’s still thriving on social media. Dr. Oz had that self-inflicted wound where he talked about crudités, and they seem to be really on edge about it.

Because the communications director for Dr. Oz said if John Fetterman had ever eaten a vegetable in his life, this is a reference to the crudités scandal, then maybe he wouldn’t have had a major stroke and “wouldn’t have been in a position to lie about it constantly.”

Tapper concluded, “I’m from Pennsylvania, and I think this is either man’s race, really, honestly, but that’s kind of nasty.”

Punchbowl News managing editor Heather Caygle opined nastiness has become a standard in political races.

“Yeah, I have been covering politics for about a decade now, and that’s a new level of nastiness that we don’t usually see in Senate races,” she said. “You know, I think when Trump came on the landscape, though, these politics really changed and these people get in the gutter and just kind of, it can get really ugly.”

She concluded, “I don’t think that that’s a winning strategy in a state like that, though.”