Washington DC - Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMM) Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz on Thursday revealed he wants Democratic Senator John Fetterman to jump ship and join the Republican Party.
During a podcast interview, Oz said that he wants "everyone in the party," noting "the guy works in mysterious ways."
When asked if he held that sentiment about Fetterman – the Democrat who defeated him in his 2022 Pennsylvania senate bid despite suffering a stroke in the middle of the campaign – Oz said: "Of course."
"We need as many people as are willing to be brave and push back on an orthodoxy or a rhetoric that doesn't actually describe reality," he said.
Oz's remarks come after Fetterman was featured in a pre-filmed video message played during the GOP midterm convention on Wednesday night. In the video, he described himself as a "commonsense Democrat" who will always "reject the extremes and socialism and that anti way of life."
He also praised President Donald Trump and Republican Senator Dave McCormick.
The move came as Fetterman has in recent months gained the ire of voters and colleagues by going out of his way to defend Trump and the MAGA agenda, while standing in defiance against his own party's platform.
Most notably, Fetterman is a staunch defender of Israel, a position that conflicts with the majority of Democratic voters.
According to Axios, Fetterman later said in a statement that despite the video message, he is not planning to leave the Democratic Party.