Do Pennsylvania Republicans want Dr. Oz?

But even at his most right-wing sounding over the last few years, he still mostly came across as nuanced — not a positive in this primary race. “The best thing he has going for him is his relationship with Hannity,” the conservative operative said. During their late night pandemic chats, Dr. Oz would relate to Hannity the latest information he was hearing from his friends in the medical community about coronavirus treatments, which Hannity would then share with his audience. Dr. Oz promoted chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine in his own Fox News appearances at the start of the outbreak, though he eventually cooled on the recommendation, advising viewers that more studies were required. At the time, he advocated for masks and vaccines and did not vilify Anthony Fauci. As a candidate, he is now calling for Fauci to be fired and emphasizing not his belief in the science of vaccines but his opposition to mandates. It’s a contortionist act, and so far, the crowd is booing. “The influencer types are not fans of him,” the conservative operative said. “Dude is getting blown up. They are on a jihad against this guy. So it’s a matter of ‘How much does that permeate into the grass roots?’”

That work with the grass roots happens at the levels below Hannity and often out of sight of television cameras. It means identifying the influencers and then identifying who is influencing the influencers and then doing your best to influence them. “If I was him, I’d be going to The Daily Caller and Breitbart and The Federalist and doing off-the-records, getting to know these people,” the conservative operative said. Trump relied on consultants, wacky and anti-professional, who at least knew that much.

Faced with accusations of phoniness or ideological impurity, Trump knew how to respond. “He’d say, Yeah, I bought and sold Hillary. That’s how I know all these politicians are for sale,” the conservative operative said. “Trump was able to deal with those questions. I don’t know that Oz is.”