Pompeo Raises ‘National Security Concerns’ About Trump-Backed Dr. Oz

DAILYCALLER.COM ^ | 5/6/2022 | SEBASTIAN HUGHES

[bitt]

FFormer Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke Friday on the “national security concerns” he had about Republican Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz.

“[Dr. Oz] engaged in the Turkish political process. That raises, in my mind, lots of judgments about his priorities,” Pompeo said in a phone call to reporters. (RELATED: Dr. Oz’s Work For Turkish Airlines May Violate Federal Lobbying Law, Advocacy Group Claims)

Oz maintains Turkish citizenship and cast a ballot in the country’s 2018 presidential election, ABC News reported. He had previously said he has “never been politically involved in Turkey in any capacity.”

Pompeo, who is backing David McCormick, former U.S. under secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs and CEO of Bridgewater Associates, said his reservations with Oz were “separate and apart from politics.”

“These are pathetic and xenophobic attacks on Dr. Oz by David McCormick, who should be ashamed of himself. Now that he lost President Trump’s endorsement, he’s resorted to sad and desperate attacks that are no different than the tropes used against Catholics and Jews,” Brittany Yanick, an Oz campaign spokesperson, told the Daily Caller News Foundation in a statement.

“Dr. Oz has already said when elected to the Senate he would renounce his citizenship. There is no security issue whatsoever, and David McCormick knows that Dr. Oz has maintained his dual citizenship to make it easier to help care for his mother who has Alzheimer’s and lives there,” she said.

Mike Pompeo, on a call with reporters organized by the McCormick campaign, cited ABC News’ reporting: “[Dr. Oz] engaged in the Turkish political process. That raises, in my mind, lots of judgments about his priorities.”

— Lucien Bruggeman (@lcbruggeman) May 6, 2022

[thinden]

We must turn out for good candidates like Barnette or they will stop running for office in Pennsylvania.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I agree! Kathy Barnette is the choice of a lot of people I know.

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I watched some of the PA debate the other night & liked Kathy as my #1 pick for senate

the knock on her was that she's not electable in the general since she was beat running for a congressional seat a couple years ago.

was she another victim of 2020 machines & mules?

what's your take on this?

[ought-six]

“My concern is whether “Mehmet” is a nickname for “Mohammed”.”

Not a nickname. Mehmet is Turkish for Mohammed.

[lightman]

Very helpful.

I’ve been a Barnette supporter from day one...now even more reason to distrust “the man behind the curtain.”