For a man who spent years on television, Dr. Mehmet Oz doesn’t seem very media savvy.
Oz who is the GOP nominee for Pennsylvania’s open Senate seat and has been trailing in the polls vs. Democratic rival John Fetterman, tried to play it funny on Thursday, tweeting a photo of his opponent photoshopped into what looked to be an ad for ABC’s early-2000s hit Lost with the words, “John Fetterman: Either he’s hiding in his basement, or he’s just plain Lost.”
Still looking for John Fetterman. Let us know if you see him. pic.twitter.com/RVdkbAxVAg
— Dr. Mehmet Oz (@DrOz) July 22, 2022
The TV star’s intended funny did not go over so well, for multiple reasons.
Respondents to Oz’s post reminded him that Fetterman is actually from Pennsylvania, where he still lives. Oz, on the other hand, was born in Ohio, has dual U.S.-Turkish citizenship and lives most of the time in New Jersey.
“Found him!” one Twitter user replied to Oz about Fetterman. “He’s IN Pennsylvania. Not Jersey, bubba.”
Also of note, the “hiding in his basement” bit brings back not-so-favorable memories of jibes Oz supporter Donald Trump received after he hid in a White House bunker when protesters gathered outside the building in 2020.
Most damning was a rebuttal today from Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof who re-posted Oz’s tweet with the caption, “He had a stroke, DOCTOR. And the island is healing him as we speak. If you actually WATCHED Lost, you’d know not to f*ck with the bald guy.
Fetterman is recovering from a stroke he suffered shortly before he locked up the Democratic nomination in May. Lindelof is clearly pointing out that if anyone should have sympathy for the time it takes to recover from such an event, it should be Oz, who is a retired cardiothoracic surgeon.
He’s also warning Oz that the TV show’s resident survivalist badass, John Locke, was bald.