When it comes to indefensible cabinet choices, Donald Trump has flooded the zone. This almost certainly isn’t an accident: The Republican president-elect probably understands that by selecting so many unqualified and scandal-plagued extremists and throwing them at the political world all at once, it makes it far more difficult for opponents to target the more obscene nominees.
Do reality-based voices focus on Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon nomination or Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s HHS nomination? What about Trump choosing Tulsi Gabbard to serve as director of national intelligence?
The president-elect offering Mehmet Oz a powerful health care job might not get the same kind of attention, but that doesn’t make his prospective nomination any less absurd. The New York Times reported last week:
On Tuesday, President-elect Donald J. Trump announced that he would nominate Dr. Mehmet Oz, a longtime TV personality, to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a powerful role that would give him control over a more than $1 trillion budget and influence over drug price negotiations, medication coverage decisions, the Affordable Care Act and more.
Oz’s last foray into politics was in the 2022 election cycle, when the Republican physician launched an ill-fated U.S. Senate campaign in Pennsylvania, which was dogged by his highly controversial record on matters related to health.
Circling back to our earlier coverage, the New York Times reported in 2021, for example, that Oz had a history of “dispensing dubious medical advice” and making “sweeping claims based on thin evidence.” The article referenced bizarre comments the television personality made about everything from weight-loss pills to apple juice to cellphones.
A group of doctors even sought his firing from Columbia University’s medical faculty in 2015, arguing that he’d “repeatedly shown disdain for science and for evidence-based medicine.”
The Washington Post had a related report during his campaign, adding that during his show’s 12-year run, Oz “provided a platform for potentially dangerous products and fringe viewpoints, aimed at millions of viewers, according to medical experts, public health organizations and federal health guidance.”
Given that Oz’s entire public persona is tied to his medical background, this record of pseudoscience didn’t do his candidacy any favors, and it very likely contributed to his defeat.
Two years later, however, Trump — who endorsed Oz during his 2022 GOP primary — has decided that the controversial doctor should lead the CMS, despite his lack of relevant experience and Oz’s highly problematic record related to Medicare in particular. New York magazine had a great report on this:
In selecting Oz to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Donald Trump has landed on a prominent hype man for Medicare Advantage, the privately run alternative to government health insurance for senior citizens. … During his failed bid for a Pennsylvania Senate seat in 2022, the former heart surgeon turned TV host touted his vision of ‘Medicare Advantage for All,’ inviting scrutiny into his financial disclosures, which showed that he owned $600,000 worth of stock in two of the largest Medicare Advantage providers (UnitedHealth Group and CVS/Aetna), not to mention about $8 million in other investments across the health-care sector. While Oz’s possible ascension to one of the most influential posts in American health care has prompted renewed focus on those investments, his ties to Medicare Advantage go deeper than that — extending back to promotional spots on his TV show paid for by one of the sketchier players in the business.
And did I mention that Oz has had financial ties to a number of medical companies with checkered records? Because that’s true, too.
When drawing up a list of which nominees are likely to spark important confirmation fights on Capitol Hill, keep Oz near the top.
