Former President Donald Trump urged Dr. Mehmet Oz Wednesday to "declare victory" in Pennsylvania's neck-and-neck GOP U.S. Senate primary.
"Dr. Oz should declare victory," Trump wrote on his social media site, Truth Social. "It makes it much harder for them to cheat with the ballots that they 'just happened to find.’”
Trump's advice to Oz, the candidate Trump endorsed in the Republican primary, came after he posted concerns about the Keystone State's mail-in ballot system.
“Here we go again! In Pennsylvania they are unable to count the Mail-In Ballots,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “It is a BIG MESS. Our Country should go to paper ballots, with same-day voting. Just done in France, zero problems. Get Smart America!!!”
Oz and former hedge fund manager Dave McCormick are virtually deadlocked in Pennsylvania’s high-stakes race, with some counties yet to tabulate mail-in ballots. The counting of absentee, provisional, and overseas and military ballots could also take days.
Some 21,000 mail-in ballots that were unscannable because of a printing error still need to be counted.
Officials should know by next week whether the results trigger an automatic recount, which happens if candidates come within .5 percent of the vote, Pennsylvania’s action Secretary of state Leigh Chapman told CNN Wednesday.
Oz, the cardiothoracic surgeon, author and well-known TV celebrity physician, told supporters at his primary night event Tuesday in Bucks County that a result wouldn’t come in then.
But, he predicted, “After the votes are tallied, I am confident that we will win. We are making a ferocious charge.”
No major media organization has called the race.
Trump also went after The Club for Growth, a powerful, conservative interest group that spent millions boosting conservative radio host Kathy Barnette.
"The Club For Growth Candidate, who lost, took many votes away from Oz," Trump wrote. 'Also, early Mail-In Ballots were sent without my having endorsed yet. Despite all of this, Oz won!"
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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