Oprah Winfrey Has Some Thoughts on Dr. Oz's Pennsylvania Senate Race

After Dr. Mehmet Oz announced that he'd be running for a U.S. Senate seat representing the state of Pennsylvania back in November, Oprah Winfrey stayed silent on the matter — until now. People reports that the talk show superstar finally issued a statement on the matter, though it seems a bit tepid for someone that many viewers consider to be her protégé. Back when he was a regular guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show, she called him "America's Doctor."

In 2009, her production company backed his show, which is set to end in January 2022 as he focuses on his campaign. His daughter, Daphne, will take over her dad's timeslot with her show, The Good Dish.

"One of the great things about our democracy is that every citizen can decide to run for public office," Winfrey told New York magazine via a statement from her spokesperson, Nicole Nichols. "Mehmet Oz has made that decision. And now it's up to the residents of Pennsylvania to decide who will represent them."

Earlier this year, Republican Sen. Pat Toomey announced that he will not seek reelection for his seat, which he's held since 2011. Oz stepped up and will run as a Republican, stating that he hoped to "heal" the divide in politics and offer "solutions."

"We are angry at our government and at each other," Oz wrote in November when he announced his campaign. "We have not managed our crises as effectively as past generations. During the pandemic, I learned that when you mix politics and medicine, you get politics instead of solutions. That's why I am running for the U.S. Senate: to help fix the problems and to help us heal."