Some of John Fetterman’s former staffers are upset he’s open to voting for Mehmet Oz, who they spent their campaign attacking

Victoria Perrone wasn’t a spokesperson for Sen. John Fetterman’s 2022 senate campaign. As his treasurer, she worked with numbers and spreadsheets. But when the campaign asked her to speak about her sister who relied in part on Medicaid at her Delaware County elementary school, she agreed.

“My sister passed away from Ovarian Cancer in June and Dr. Oz became the Republican nominee,” she said on stage at Nether Providence Elementary School that year, sporting a ‘Made in Delco’ hoodie. “When I found out Dr. Oz lied to millions of TV viewers that one of his ‘miracle cures’ would decrease ovarian cancer by 75%, I got really mad, like Delco Mad.”

Now two years later, President-elect Donald Trump said he will nominate Mehmet Oz as administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a role that oversees the coordination and implementation of major health care programs like Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and the Affordable Care Act.

So when Fetterman said this week that he would vote for Oz if the celebrity doctor agrees to protect Medicaid and Medicare, Perrone got “Delco mad” again.

“Our politics are obviously different, and we do have a history, but I don’t have any bitterness,” Fetterman told CNN reporter Manu Raju this week of Oz. “I don’t hold anything against him. As long as he’s willing to protect and preserve Medicaid and Medicare, I’m voting for the dude.”

But on the campaign trail in 2022, Fetterman often attacked the celebrity doctor known for spreading misinformation as a liar and a fraud, and frequently said Oz would be a threat to Medicare and Social Security funding. So the senator’s remarks this week garnered a reaction from several former campaign staffers, and some of his former senate staffers also expressed outrage at Oz’s nomination.

Annie Wu Henry, who was on Fetterman’s campaign’s digital team and was coined his TikTok whisperer, posted screenshots of posts from Fetterman’s X account that argued Oz would threaten Medicare and Social Security. Harrison Morgan, who also worked on Fetterman’s campaign, reposted Henry’s compilation as well as other posts against Oz. Morgan also shared a 2022 post from Fetterman’s account that called Oz a fraud.

“In 2022 I worked on a campaign against an out of touch liar and fraud to ensure he would not have the responsibility of serving everyday Americans and Pennsylvanians — and we won.,” Henry said. “Over the past two years, Dr. Mehmet Oz has done nothing to prove himself anything otherwise, in fact, his appointment to this position coming from a notoriously dangerous pathological liar only solidifies that we cannot and should not trust him in any level of our government.”

Sophie Ota, the digital director for Fetterman’s 2022 campaign, also pointed out the irony of Fetterman’s statement about appointing Oz. “Oh my god hahahahahahahahahahahahah,” she posted alongside Fetterman’s statement.

Former Fetterman communications staffers Emma Mustion, Joe Calvello, and Nick Gavio, who all left within the same time period in the spring, all shared posts on X against Oz’s appointment.

During his 2022 run, Oz said he supported expanding Medicare Advantage plans, which use private insurers, and he argued in a 2020 op-ed that every American who isn’t on Medicaid should be on one of the private plans.

A 2014 study found that less than half of claims made on Oz’s show were accurate, The 19th reported. Oz also said in 2014 that Americans without insurance do not have a right to health and should instead receive 15-minute screenings in a “festival-like setting,” the report said.

For Perrone, Fetterman’s statement was a “huge personal betrayal.” She said her sister cast a vote for Fetterman on the last ballot she lived to cast.

“Knowing all of these things that we researched about Mehmet Oz and the lies that he told on his show, and then seeing and knowing where he stands on Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, it made zero sense to me that John would even say that he would consider voting for him, because, in my opinion, it is pretty clear cut that he is not qualified,” Perrone said in an interview.

She said she doesn’t know why Fetterman, who is “blatantly and obnoxiously authentic,” would be open to believing Oz, who “made a career out of lying to people.” If Fetterman was trying to extend an olive branch to work with Republicans, “this was a very failed attempt of doing that,” she said.

“I don’t know if he’s caving to the Republican Party; I don’t know if he’s just being gullible,” she said.

Fetterman — who also said this week of Oz that he would “get a beer with the dude,” as NOTUS reported — dismissed the reaction to his recent remarks on Friday.

“Freakouts are rarely illuminating,” he posted on X. “I never committed to a yes, just an open dialogue lol.”

He also pointed to the Republican majority in the Senate to support his view. But while Democrats don’t have the power to block Trump’s nominees, they can play a role in directing the conversation about them.

Fetterman’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

Fetterman has already alienated some of his supporters on the left who expressed frustration and disillusionment over his hard-line support for Israel in its war against Hamas. He’s also extended his snark — which he previously was known for extending to Republicans like Oz — to progressives who previously supported him.

“There’s been a pattern of people feeling duped by him, and where he actually stands on issues,” Perrone said.

Meanwhile, Fetterman has made a better impression with Republicans over his staunch support for Israel. He has welcomed pro-Israel Trump appointments with open arms, including Sen. Marco Rubio and U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik. He was, however, dismissive of former Florida U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz’s now-withdrawn appointment as attorney general, sarcastically saying he didn’t see it coming that Gaetz wouldn’t be confirmed.

Staff writer Julia Terruso contributed to this article.