Dr. Mehmet Oz.Photo: Noel Vasquez/Getty Images

Dr. Oz

Hoping to inspire financial contributions, Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dr.Mehmet Ozhas shared a discouraging diagnosis with supporters of former PresidentDonald Trump.

The “MAGA MOVEMENT IS DYING,” the Oz campaign declared in a text message deployed Monday. “Liberals are winning the fundraising race, and the America First Pro-Trump movement feels defeated.”

The message included an image of the former president, whoendorsed Oz in Aprilin a move that upset some supporters opposing the celebrity heart surgeon in the high-stakes race for Senate.

He will face Pennsylvania Lt. Gov.John Fetterman, the Democratic nominee, in November.

Oz reportedly has reason to be worried when it comes to fundraising.

Since late April, Fetterman has pulled in $9.9 million in campaign contributions, compared to $1.1 million for Dr. Oz,reports thePittsburgh Post-Gazette. At the start of July, Fetterman had $5.5 million on hand compared to $1.1 million in Oz’s campaign coffers, according to the paper.

Asked about why he’s so far behind in raising money for his campaign, Oz explained the financial disadvantage he’s facing to Fox News host Laura Ingraham on Monday.

“The Democrats have very cleverly taken all of these issues that have come up over the summer ― the Dodd decision, the concerns about guns ― and they’ve used these as excuses to raise money from the Democratic loyalists,“Oz said. (His mention of the “Dodd decision” seemingly refers to the Supreme Court’s ruling inDobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization,which overturnedRoe v. Wadein June.)

“Interestingly, when Republicans get mad, we go out and mow the lawn,” he continued. “Democrats, when they get mad, donate money to their party.”

Fetterman has employed some creative campaign tactics sincesuffering a strokedays before the primary election, which kept him off the trail for a while.

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Reality starSnooki— no stranger to New Jersey’s famous beaches —also got in on the effortto paint Oz as a Pennsylvania outsider.

TheJersey Shorestar, 34, also known as Nicole Polizzi, appeared in a video posted onJohn Fetterman’s Twitter page last week.

“I heard that you moved from New Jersey to Pennsylvania to look for a new job,” Polizzi said in a short video that Fetterman tweeted. “And personally, I don’t know why anyone would wanna leave Jersey, ‘cause it’s like the best place ever and we’re all hot messes.”

source: people.com