Pennsylvania Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman campaigns ahead of primary election | Photo by Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images
Over the last few weeks, the Fetterman and Oz campaigns have been locked in an online tit for tat as the midterm election cycle continues to heat up in Pennsylvania. The Oz campaign has repeatedly slammed âradical liberalâ John Fetterman over Twitter for his 2016 Bernie Sanders endorsement and âcrazier than you thinkâ policy platform. But rather than distancing Fetterman from the criticism, his campaign has embraced the attacks as content inspiration.
The standoff burst into full view on Wednesday when Dr. Mehmet Oz posted a photoshopped image of Sanders and Fetterman styled as a 1980s department store glamour shot, taken from the film Step Brothers. The Fetterman campaign replied with an image reading, âgraphic design is my passion,â mocking the memeâs crummy editing job.
â John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) July 20, 2022
Joe Calvello, the Fetterman campaignâs director of communications, said the approach is largely inspired by their opponentâs social presence. âA lot of the time, [Oz] is just asking for it,â he told The Verge on Wednesday. âI donât know why he does bad posts.â
Invoking the infamous graphic design meme was just the Fetterman campaignâs latest troll targeting Dr. Oz. Last week, the campaign enlisted âJersey Shoreâ star Nicole Polizzi, better known as âSnooki,â to scold Oz over his alleged New Jersey residency. âI heard that you moved from New Jersey to Pennsylvania to look for a new job,â Snooki said in the video. âPersonally, I donât know why anybody would wanna leave New Jersey, âcause itâs like the best place ever, and weâre all hot messes.â
There are nearly four more months until Pennsylvania voters decide who to send Washington. But for now, âWe let the people decide the ratio,â Calvello said.