• Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman continues to troll Dr. Mehmet Oz over his New Jersey ties.
  • This time, Fetterman enlisted "Jersey Shore" reality show star "Snooki."
  • "Jersey will never forget you," Snooki says to Oz in a video posted by Fetterman's campaign.

Pennslyvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman's campaign enlisted "Jersey Shore" alum Snooki in its ongoing effort to troll Republican Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz over his longstanding ties to New Jersey.

"Hey, Mehmet, this is Nicole "Snooki," one of the stars of the MTV reality show says in the video that appears to be from the online service Cameo. She adds that she heard Oz left New Jersey to "look for a new job."

"Personally, I don't why anyone would want to leave New Jersey because we are all hot messes, but I want to say best of luck to you," said Snooki, whose real name is Nicole LaValle. "I know you're away from home and you're in a new place but Jersey will never forget you." 

It's unclear if LaValle knew that her video would be used as a political attack.

 

Spurred on by former President Donald Trump's endorsement, Oz narrowly won the Republican Party's nomination in June. Fetterman and Oz will now face off in November in a race to determine who will replace retiring Republican Sen. Pat Toomey. Republicans appear to be entering the midterms on the offensive, but the Pennsylvania contest will be one of the marquee races come November.

Fetterman and his campaign have for weeks assailed Oz over his ties to New Jersey and minimal ties to Pennsylvania. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Oz lived in North Jersey for more than three decades. He has said that he moved to Pennslyvania in 2020 and lived at his in-law's home. But Oz's social media posts still showed him frequently in New Jersey.

It doesn't help matters that the political neophyte has made some missteps such as when his campaign misspelled the name of his town on an official campaign form or when it appeared that he filmed a campaign video in his New Jersey mansion. 

Fetterman has been off the trail recovering from a near-fatal stroke he suffered in May. In the meantime, his campaign has pushed the Oz-New Jersey story through a litany of social media posts. Last weekend, it also paid for a plane to fly over the Jersey shore with a message saying, "HEY DR. OZ, WELCOME HOME TO NJ! ♥ JOHN."

Ironically, Jersey shore itself was dogged by criticism about where some of its stars lived. The reality TV show, which ran from 2009-2012, was about eight housemates. Only two of them were New Jersey natives. Snooki was not one of them. 

Representatives for Fetterman and Oz's respective campaigns did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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