It comes at a difficult time when Republican candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz, whom Oprah helped make a star nearly two decades ago when she brought him on her daily show as a regular guest, is gaining popularity. Until now, Winfrey had said she would leave the election up to Pennsylvanians, but she changed that position in an online discussion about voting in next Tuesday’s election. “I said it’s up to the people of Pennsylvania and of course, but I’ll tell you all this, if I lived in Pennsylvania, I would have already voted for John Fetterman for a number of reasons,” Winfrey said. The Pennsylvania seat has been seen for months as the most likely pickup opportunity for Democrats in the evenly divided Senate, but a difficult debate performance by Fetterman following a stroke in May has thrown that into doubt. Polls now show a close race between Fetterman and Oz, the celebrity heart surgeon backed by former President Donald Trump. In a sign of how high the stakes are, Trump will return to Pennsylvania on Saturday to campaign for Oz, while President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama will campaign for Fetterman on the same day.
