CNN was quick to come to the defense of media mogul Oprah Winfrey after her endorsement of Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D) instead of her supposed friend of 20 years, Dr. Mehmet Oz (R), in the Pennsylvania Senate race as the surgeon was likened to property.
(Video: CNN)
For those under the illusion that Winfrey was somehow beyond the constraints of partisanship, that image was shattered Thursday when she pivoted from her earlier position to remain out of the Pennsylvania contest to throw her weight behind the flailing campaign of Fetterman.
As previously reported, she told her loyal and impressionable fanbase, “I’ll tell you this, if I lived in Pennsylvania, I would have already cast my vote for John Fetterman for many reasons.”
Oprah Winfrey’s shamefully desperate endorsement screams ‘partisan hack’ https://t.co/hYOMHtognV pic.twitter.com/Ze2xKODnlT
— Conservative News (@BIZPACReview) November 4, 2022
Friday on CNN’s “Inside Politics,” the panel seemingly covered for Winfrey’s blatant partisan move as Dana Bash argued that Oz would not have had the public career he’s enjoyed without the billionaire’s influence.
“It’s not just that she’s for Fetterman,” she said to the panel while suggesting a “vote blue no matter who” position, “it’s that she’s against Dr. Oz.”
That, Bash contended, was Winfrey’s right as “She created him. The reason Dr. Oz is Dr. Oz is because Oprah put him on the map. And that endorsement is much more of a–an opposition announcement of Oz, I think, than a I love John Fetterman.”
Winfrey was the first guest on Oz’s Discovery Channel show “Second Opinion with Dr. Oz” which launched in 2003 before he became a recurring guest on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” In 2009, “The Dr. Oz Show” was created through the media mogul’s Harpo Productions.
CNN anchor and correspondent Audie Cornish picked up on Bash’s argument and tried to claim that the endorsement wasn’t so much about politics as it was about maintaining her empire.
“I will be struck down by the gods for saying this, but I don’t want us to confuse political engagement with brand maintenance, and Oprah has been very cautious about criticizing Oz,” Cornish said.
“When he first came out, and when people have complained about for instance his positions on coronavirus, she said nothing or she said it’s up to the Pennsylvania residents to decide,” Cornish continued. “This is about maintaining the relationship she has with her brand and also focusing on white, independent women in the Philly suburbs. This is a huge part of the Oprah audience, kind of white, independent, suburban women and that is the right messenger for the moment.”
However, that argument was readily negated by the fact that Winfrey went on to offer a blanket endorsement of Democrats as she stated, “That is not the only race that matters. If I was in North Carolina, as you mentioned, Sister [Cheri] Beasley there, and if I was in Florida, I’d be supporting Val Demings. If I was in Wisconsin, it would be Mandela Barnes. In Nevada, [Catherine] Cortez Masto, and in Texas, Beto O’Rourke and Raphael Warnock and the incredible Stacey Abrams, of course, in Georgia.”
“There are clear choices out there,” Winfrey argued, adding, “the values we hold dear, the values of inclusion, the values of compassion and that so many of us share… Use your discernment and choose wisely for the democracy of our country.”
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Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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