Dr. Oz Killed Over 300 Dogs And Herschel Walker's Son Hates Him, Two Very Online Scandals Disrupt Senate Campaigns
Two of this cycle’s most important Senate campaigns have been shaken up by very-online scandals this week. In Pennsylvania, the highly memed race between John Fetterman and Dr. Oz has turned into a discussion of 300 dogs reportedly killed in the course of experiments Oz ran.
Meanwhile, in Georgia where Herschel Walker is trying to unseat Raphael Warnock, Walker’s right-wing TikTok influencer son Christian has published a viral tweet rant accusing his dad of being a deadbeat and a hypocrite on abortion.
Two stories dropped on Republican Senate candidates today:
Dr. Oz conducted studies where over 300 dogs were killed, often brutally and for no scientific purpose.
Herschel Walker, who opposes abortion in all cases without exceptions, paid for a girlfriend's abortion.— What Biden Has Done (@What46HasDone) October 4, 2022
First, the 300 dead dogs. According to reporting from Jezebel, between 1989 and 2010, experiments led by Oz at Columbia University killed over 300 dogs. It is common for medical researchers to use and kill live animals as they seek to understand drugs and treatments that could be used to save human lives, but the experiments Oz conducted were found to violate the Animal Welfare Act because researchers did not administer anesthesia to the animals.
A whistleblower within the lab reported egregious treatment of dogs, including grisly details such as putting dead puppies inside of garbage bags with their living littermates. Columbia eventually paid a fine for the animal abuse. Amid his Senate campaign in May 2022, the university also cut all ties with Oz.
NEW: A new investigation reveals that Dr. Oz conducted studies that killed over 300 dogs, including an entire litter of puppies by injecting expired drugs directly into their hearts. https://t.co/WXZD8ltDw6
— No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen (@NoLieWithBTC) October 3, 2022
Mike Huckabee’s son killed a dog. Sarah Palin’s son stood on one. Tomi Lahren kicked hers. Mitt Romney drove with his on the roof of his car. Ted Cruz abandoned his. Dr. Oz’s “experiments” killed hundreds. I’m not saying all Republicans are dog-hating monsters or anything, but…
— The Volatile Mermaid (@OhNoSheTwitnt) October 3, 2022
The Fetterman campaign seized on this story to drive home a recent series of attacks about Oz’s record as a medical practitioner. Specifically, the Fetterman campaign has focused on his promotion of questionable medicines and pseudo-science on television — a long-standing criticism of Oz that has circulated the web for years.
BREAKING: Dr. Oz is a puppy killer. https://t.co/SXgRSUO2TK
— John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) October 3, 2022
Love my @LeviFetterman + ArtieGirl. Hugging them extra tight tonight
It would be so nice if everyone replied to this thread with pictures of their pups ❤️ pic.twitter.com/B5dQTIxFZz— John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) October 4, 2022
Oz has yet to reply to the allegations, but parody accounts have stepped into the void in the wake of the viral story.
I LOVE my dog no matter what
— Dr. Mehmet Oz (@ArmandDoma) October 4, 2022
— American Asset (@blessmyass21) October 4, 2022
It appears as if that parody account is riffing off a tweet from the other scandal facing a Republican Senate candidate today: Herschel Walker’s falling-out with his son Christian. The elder Walker tweeted in response to his son’s attacks:
I LOVE my son no matter what
— Herschel Walker (@HerschelWalker) October 4, 2022
His son, Christian Walker, has publicly condemned his father on Twitter following allegations from The Daily Beast, corroborated by records in his own handwriting, that Herschel Walker (who is running as a pro-life candidate) reportedly paid for an abortion in 2009. Walker shared that his father was absent for much of his life and then violent when he was present.
Every family member of Herschel Walker asked him not to run for office, because we all knew (some of) his past. Every single one. He decided to give us the middle finger and air out all of his dirty laundry in public, while simultaneously lying about it.
I’m done.— Christian Walker (@ChristianWalk1r) October 4, 2022
I’ve stayed silent for nearly two years as my whole life has been lied about publicly. I did ONE campaign event, then said I didn’t want involvement.
Don’t you dare test my authenticity. Here is the full story: pic.twitter.com/ekVEcz8zq3— Christian Walker (@ChristianWalk1r) October 4, 2022
Herschel Walker’s family had to move 6 times in 6 months to escape his violence and threats to kill them.
Source: his own son, conservative influencer Christian Walker -- who has suddenly broken publicly with Herschel.— Tristan Snell (@TristanSnell) October 4, 2022
A number of posters seemed to adore the drama of it all, expressing their reactions throughout the day online.
Text I just received from a friend:
I have tickets to see Stevie Nicks at the Hollywood Bowl, but now I want to stay home, eat some edibles and refresh Christian Walker’s twitter until my fingers bleed.— Adam Parkhomenko (@AdamParkhomenko) October 4, 2022
I’m proud of Christian Walker for having the courage Don, Eric and Ivanka do not.
— Mike Madrid (@madrid_mike) October 4, 2022
Some posters also joked about the vehemence and enthusiasm of certain Democrats to attack Walker.
occupy democrats in 20 minutes: RT IF YOU'RE GLAD THAT FETUS DIDNT HAVE TO GROW UP WITH HERSCHEL WALKER AS ITS DAD!
— Dirk Fuckner 🎃 (@timerube) October 4, 2022
Others on the left-leaning side of the political spectrum expressed discomfort about Christian Walker because he is a "right-wing TikTok influencer" who talks about “family values” and has a podcast called “Uncancellable” (Christian Walker is, presumably, "uncancelable" because he is Black and gay).
I haven’t seen a good piece explaining who Christian Walker is, but he’s basically a Gen Z Milo, expressing similar far right politics as Milo. As Daily Beast noted, until recently he was hawking Herschel ’22 merch https://t.co/xMeYdtkZuF pic.twitter.com/UM6qynhFTf
— Taylor Lorenz (@TaylorLorenz) October 4, 2022
A real challenge in explaining what’s going on in the Georgia race to someone who is not particularly online is that describing Christian Walker’s persona and role in the contest makes you sound a bit unhinged.
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) October 4, 2022
Don't you white liberals go feeling sorry for Christian Walker, that boy is a hateful piece of shit.
— 🇯🇲Black🇭🇹 Aziz 🇳🇬aNANsi🇹🇹 (@Freeyourmindkid) October 4, 2022
As word continued to spread on social media, others sought to support Christian Walker, pointing out that he suffered a trauma at the hands of his father.
The whole Hershel Walker situation is more than just politics.
Christian Walker is victim of domestic abuse who is reaching out for support.
Sometimes you have to put differences aside and show sympathy towards others you disagree with. https://t.co/Q0QC7ggawa— Remmy Robertson (@mushysparrow) October 4, 2022
Overall, both the 300 dogs story and the Christian Walker revelations are likely bad news for Republicans. Mitch McConnell alluded several weeks ago to problems with candidate quality in the 2022 midterm elections, and many took his remarks to mean that he and others have doubts about Walker and Oz.
So far, you'd be hard-pressed to find many posts defending either candidate online. Some Democrats, however, remained cynical about whether any scandal could actually matter.
It's not just that Dr. Oz killed 300 dogs in violation of the Animal Welfare Act, or that he was fined $95M for illegal immigration practices, or that a peer reviewed study found that ~50% of his medical statements were lies--it's that none of this will make him lose MAGA votes.😑
— Qasim Rashid, Esq. (@QasimRashid) October 3, 2022
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