Tipsheet

Why Is GOP Senate Hopeful Dr. Oz Active on CCP-Controlled Social Media?

Spencer Brown
Spencer Brown  |  January 04, 2022 11:30 AM

Dr. Mehmet Oz, once Oprah's favorite medical expert-turned television doctor turned-Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, has faced a lot of questions as headscratchers wonder why he launched a campaign in a state where he sort-of lives. 

Among all these questions, there's another that deals with his decision making and knowledge about the threat the Chinese Communist Party poses — both to its own citizens and to Americans here at home.

It turns out that among his other social media accounts, Dr. Oz has active accounts on platforms controlled by or with tight ties to the Chinese Communist Party. And they're not something Oz has been shy about, tweeting out the links to his accounts when he launched them in 2018, a time when the CCP's human rights abuses, cyber espionage, and cornucopia of other crimes were already known.

While Oz's last post on Weibo appears to be dated May 16, 2019, his verified profile is still active. It appears that Dr. Oz's foray into CCP-controlled social media accompanied a deal his television show's distributor landed to get the show in front of Chinese audiences. Perhaps the same financial and profit factors that saw the NBA, Nike, and others choose to cozy up with the Chinese Communist Party while ignoring the evil regime's genocide, cyber and corporate espionage, and abysmal human rights record. 

By having active accounts on Weibo and WeChat, Dr. Oz is legitimizing the CCP and its schemes. With his show's distribution in China, he's also profiting as a result of playing by China's rules. 

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The threats posed by China's proliferation of social media networks have been well documented even by mainstream media and warned against by members of the Senate whom Dr. Oz hopes to join as a colleague.

Senators Rick Scott (R-FL) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) reached across the aisle to work together on exposing CCP-controlled apps including WeChat that "pose huge security risks" to Americans.

Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) introduced the WeChat No More Act, citing the company's "direct connections to the CCP" and reminding "the company spread pro-China misinformation with the goal of influencing the American public during the 2016 election" and also "censors topics like the #MeToo movement and Chinese public health scandals."

On his campaign website, Dr. Oz confusingly lists "Get Tough on China" as an issue despite his accounts on WeChat and Weibo and his television show's distribution in China that only comes with the blessing of the CCP. In a sweet bit of irony, the social media links displayed under "Get Tough on China" include Dr. Oz's TikTok account. 

Dr. Oz's website notes in GOP consultant-speak that "the United States has failed to respond to the global Chinese threat" while "they steal our intellectual property and manipulate their currency," but those concerns apparently weren't enough to keep him from playing around with CCP-controlled networks. What's more, when it comes to highlighting China as a campaign issue, why doesn't he point out the CCP's genocide, its use of forced labor, or its hostile takeover of Hong Kong and threatening actions toward Taiwan? His campaign's criticism of China is muted at best or selectively censored at worst to avoid the most serious criticisms of the Chinese Community Party.

His campaign's stance on China and his activity with CCP-run social media networks mean he has some questions to answer about how he really feels about the CCP and the threat it poses.