(Screenshot via POLITICO YouTube channel)
A360 Media, LLC, formerly American Media, Inc.’s celebrity gossip site Radar Online published an article Dec. 17 that claimed it had obtained the exclusive audio of remarks made by Dr. Mehmet Oz, the 61-year-old television celebrity physician running for a U.S. Senate seat in Pennsylvania, at a private function Dec. 16 in New York City.
Oz, who is registered as a Republican candidate, was asked by another attendee regarding his stance on transgender issues, specifically referencing the recent outcry and publicity regarding the University of Pennsylvania Women’s swim team trans-athlete Lia Thomas.
Thomas, who has been shattering previously set records at the school according to Swim Swam, the Austin, Texas-based swimming news and lifestyle website, was anonymously attacked publicly by one of her fellow team members in a transphobic article two weeks ago by OutKick, the right-wing sports website owned by Fox News.
In a transcript of his remarks published by Radar, Oz responded to the question, noting “The transgender issue is kind of diluted a little bit. The suicide rate amongst transgender adults has grown [inaudible]. This is critical to understand. We have to have compassion on this problem. It is a devastating one. And transgender folks who are adults, when they are processing this, have to figure out if they wanna keep living the lie – they don’t think they’re who they are – or be who they truly are and are [inaudible] because of it. So that’s like the baseline.”
The candidate then blasted trans equality saying, “”But then you layer on top of that changes to our society that hurt other people in an effort to protect one group of people, and that’s not fair. That’s not fair,” he said, circling back to the topic of trans athletes.
“Feminists have very eloquently fought for the ability to have women’s sports be on equal [inaudible] as men’s sports, and this takes away that ability,” he said. “I would argue that what I just said can’t be said – I definitely couldn’t have said it on [The Dr. Oz Show] – and you need to be able to say those things.”
Oz has been a fixture on daytime television for a number of years after getting his start on Oprah Winfrey’s talk show. The show is co-produced by Winfrey’s Harpo Productions/Harpo Studios and his own company-OzWorks LLC/Oz Media in association with Sony Pictures Television. The show has garnered him nine Daytime Emmy Awards during its 13 season run.
Sony Pictures Television announced last week The Dr. Oz Show would end its run Jan. 14, 2022, this coming after Oz declared his candidacy on Nov. 30 for the Republican primary for the Senate seat in Pennsylvania.
Radar also reported that Oz insisted his position with regard to trans athletes was “not about being hateful or harmful. I’m not trying to make anyone’s life miserable. I’m respectful of how difficult it is. But we have to be able to say these things in America.”
The celebrity doctor then went on to praise and defend celebrity author J.K. Rowling, who has been actively disparaging trans people on her Twitter account. Her most recent attack came after an article was published by the conservative British paper The Times, that took aim at trans females who had committed a criminal offence.
War is Peace.
Freedom is Slavery.
Ignorance is Strength.
The Penised Individual Who Raped You Is a Woman.https://t.co/SyxFnnboM1— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) December 12, 2021
According to Radar, Oz praised Rowling, whose remarks about the trans community have been widely condemned as transphobic in both the U.K. and the U.S.
“J.K. Rowling, who’s not some icon of the conservative party, said something that I think was very brave,” said Oz. “She was a lifelong feminist, and then she’s canceled. And I’ve talked to people who are canceling her, who would’ve been making a lot of money off her, and they can’t defend what they’re doing, or they don’t wanna be in trouble.
“And as a brave American,” he added, “you have to be willing to get into trouble. That’s what makes us different.”
