Mehmet Oz,on June 9.
Photo:
Hannah Beier/Bloomberg News
With a hard-fought Senate primary behind them, Pennsylvania Republicans are pivoting toward November, but let’s stop to salute the gentlemanly conduct on both sides. “It’s now clear to me, with the recount largely complete, that we have a nominee,”
David McCormick
conceded.
Mr. McCormick fell short by about 950 votes. “I called
Mehmet Oz
to congratulate him on his victory,” he added. “And I told him what I always said to you: that I will do my part to try to unite Republicans and Pennsylvanians behind his candidacy.” Who says political honor is dead?
Mr. Oz is famous as a TV doctor, but he also comported himself like a U.S. Senator. The day after the election, with thousands of votes still uncounted, President Trump urged his endorsed candidate to start yelling fraud allegations. “Dr. Oz should declare victory,” Mr. Trump said. “It makes it much harder for them to cheat with the ballots that they ‘just happened to find.’” A day later Mr. Trump added: “Stop FINDING VOTES in PENNSYLVANIA! RIGGED?”
Mr. Oz didn’t take the bait. Aside from being truthful, his restraint has put him in a better position to win in November. If he had accepted Mr. Trump’s impulsive advice, the scene might have gotten ugly, making it harder to bring Mr. McCormick’s voters to his side. Patiently waiting for the recounting and litigating to proceed has now allowed Republicans to come together in trying to defeat the Democratic nominee, Lt. Gov.
John Fetterman,
who would be a reliable vote for the
Bernie Sanders
agenda.
Don’t expect Mr. Trump to learn a whit from the good example set by Messrs. Oz and McCormick, but other GOP hopefuls might. November remains a long way off, and it would be nice to get there without any made-up fraud charges that pit Republicans against Republicans.
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Appeared in the June 11, 2022, print edition as ‘Dr. Oz Refuses Trump’s Prescription.’
