When Donald Trump looks at Dr. Oz, he sees himself.
(He probably sees his own reflection in the glint in everyone’s eye, but …)
Mehmet Oz is super close to transforming into his highest self as a Trump mini-me — he’s already got the celeb status, he’s a reality TV host with no business being in politics, he’s just as bombastic in his MAGA beliefs as the ex-president. But he’s missing one key ingredient that Trump is already subtly calling him out for.
He hasn’t yet tried to steal his election.
Dr. Oz and Dave McCormick have been locked in a too-close-to-call near tie for Pennsylvania’s Republican Senate nomination, with Oz just barely holding a 2,500-vote lead with 95 percent of the vote counted as of this morning. While Oz may well be declared the primary winner, there’s still plenty of room for McCormick to pull ahead — Oz has 31.3 percent of the vote compared to McCormick’s 31.1 percent.
In a post on his TRUTH Social website — where posts are called “truths” because how could a personal truth ever be a lie — Trump urged Dr. Oz to preemptively declare victory before all the ballots are counted and the real victor is announced. Trump did exactly that in the same state in 2020. Trump was ahead in Pennsylvania and several other states on election night, before mail-in ballots had been tallied. The former president declared victory in Pennsylvania and other states that he went on to lose days later.
“Dr. Oz should declare victory,” Trump truthed. “It makes it much harder for them to cheat with the ballots that they ‘just happened to find.'”
The premature victory dance appears to be a principal element of Trump-style Big Lying. And also, a willful misunderstanding of how vote counting processes work. Nonetheless, Trump’s urging Oz to take his easier-to-apologize-than-ask-permission logic and run with it.
Declaring victory ahead of a loss makes it that much easier to cry voter fraud in the end.
The Best Of TPM Today
Here’s what you should read this evening:
Kathy Barnette Will Not Be The GOP Nominee For Senate In Pennsylvania
Prognosticator Shifts Pennsylvania Governor’s Race To ‘Lean Dem’ After Mastriano’s Win
Kinzinger Praises Cawthorn’s Defeat: This Is ‘Good For The Country’
Incredible stuff: MyPillow Guy Gets Indicted MAGA Clerk In Even More Trouble
Teddy Daniels, Mastriano’s Lieutenant Governor Pick, Loses Primary
On Trump’s first impeachment: Defense IG: Trump Admin Unlawfully Retaliated Against Yevgeny Vindman
And catch up on all our primary coverage from last night here:
Fetterman Wins Democratic Senate Primary In Pennsylvania
Insurrection Attendee Mastriano Will Be GOP Candidate For Pennsylvania Governor
Cawthorn Concedes In Face Of Primary Challenge
Idaho Governor Beats Back Challenge From Trump-Backed Lt. Guv.
Yesterday’s Most Read Story
Tucker Carlson Doesn’t Know What Buffalo Shooter’s Talking About With All This Crazy ‘Great Replacement’ Stuff — Cristina Cabrera
What We Are Reading
Federal agents find sophisticated tunnel under US-Mexico border and seize almost a ton of cocaine — Steve Almasy
Suddenly Pennsylvania Republicans Are OK With Counting Mail-In Ballots — Liz Skalka
U.S. Soccer and Top Players Agree to Guarantee Equal Pay — Andrew Das
