Pennsylvania Republican candidate for U.S. Senate David McCormick said he has no hard feelings against former President Trump after the president verbally attacked him during Friday night’s rally, and vowed to continue to fight for American First policies and give Trump all the credit he deserves for pointing America in the right direction.
“No, listen, here’s the way I see it. I get where he’s coming from,” McCormick told Breitbart News Saturday when asked if there were “hard feelings” after Trump criticized McCormick, calling him a “liberal Wall Street Republican” and adding that he “may be a nice guy, but he’s not MAGA.”
McCormick said Trump’s actions are par for the course, doubling down to help celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz, whom he endorsed, gain some momentum.
“I understand that’s the way it goes,” he said, adding that Oz is not popular in Pennsylvania because “he’s not a conservative in any way.”
“He’s pro-abortion, he’s anti-gun, he’s pro-Obamacare, he’s pro-transgender transitions for kids. He’s anti-fracking. … And then when he announced he was running for Senate, he has flip-flopped on every one of those positions, and it’s for that reason that he’s not getting momentum in the polls despite, you know, the very important Trump endorsement,” McCormick explained, adding that he is seeing momentum in the polls personally, despite Trump’s endorsement of his challenger, because “people see me as a battle-tested guy.”
“[I] grew up in Pennsylvania, you know, went to West Point, served in the 82nd Airborne, came back and ran a company in Pittsburgh,” he said, identifying himself as a true America First conservative.
“And on all the issues I speak about, I can speak with enthusiasm and understanding because that’s what I really believe. And so in terms of hard feelings, no,” he said, adding that he will be advocating for Trump’s policies if he gets elected.
While Trump is doubling down on his endorsement, McCormick said he is “doubling down on my commitment to winning this seat,” expressing confidence that the facts will “turn … this election in my direction.”
McCormick also discussed Oz’s continued devotion to Turkey. (Oz has so far refused to give up his Turkish citizenship, but has said he will if elected to the Senate.) He noted Oz was born in Ohio and volunteered for the Turkish army.
“At the exact same time that I was wearing an American uniform serving in the 82nd Airborne Division under Ronald Reagan, Mehmet Oz was wearing a Turkish uniform,” he said, adding that it is critical for “a lot of reasons,” including the fundamental fact that Turkey is an “adversary.”
“Turkey is pro-Iran. Turkey is pro-Syria. Turkey is anti-Israel,” he said, adding that Oz seemingly lied about not being involved with Turkish politics, as he participated in the Turkish presidential elections in 2018 “in the very same week” that he “chose not to vote in the American election.”
“And then the third thing is the one you raise, which is he has very close ties to Turkey as a dual citizen. He is an asset owner. His financial report said he has assets there in the millions of dollars. He received income from the Turkish government as a spokesperson for Turkish Airlines as you said, which is owned by the government. Therefore, it does raise the question of whether he should have registered as a foreign agent,” McCormick said, also touting his own strong record on China, which Turkey supports.
The current RealClearPolitcs average shows McCormick leading Oz by an average of six percentage points in the Keystone State race.
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