Oz vows to renounce Turkish citizenship if elected senator

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Mehmet Oz, warding off criticism from a key rival in Pennsylvania’s heated Republican primary race for U.S. Senate, said Wednesday that he will renounce his dual citizenship in Turkey if he is elected, as the expensive campaign took on a harder and more personal edge. Oz — the celebrity heart surgeon best known as daytime TV’s host of “The Dr. Oz Show” — made the statement hours after disputing a media report that claimed he said he planned to forego security clearances in the Senate to maintain his dual citizenship. Still, the scrutiny of Oz’s dual citizenship gave the campaign a harder and more personal edge, and Oz accused one primary opponent, former hedge fund CEO David McCormick, of “bigoted attacks.” McCormick’s campaign on Wednesday brought out a sitting senator to criticize Oz’s purported willingness to waive security clearances in the Senate to keep his dual citizenship, well after Oz had disputed the report. McCormick’s campaign said Oz should renounce his dual citizenship right away, and contended that painting McCormick as a bigot for raising “valid national security concerns is a page right out of the liberal playbook.” McCormick’s wife Dina Powell is a naturalized citizen from Egypt, the campaign said.