“You have Mehmet Oz, who never used his public platform to push any of our America First agenda. He has never. And now we are being told he is a MAGA conservative. Never,” she said, before attacking McCormick for the ties the hedge fund he previously led has to China. “You cannot be in bed with China financially if you are not also in bed with China ideologically. … And yet they are telling us they are conservative. Pay attention.”
McCormick on Friday portrayed his work in China as “negotiating against” the country, adding that “no one has the credentials and the toughness to go toe to toe with China like I do.”
She added: “Look at that video they did, right? I have never supported Black Lives Matter. I have never said our country was systemically racist. In fact, I have always said the opposite, I have always said my story shows you just how far we have come as a nation.”
Trump’s endorsement of Oz has spurred a backlash from conservative activists in Pennsylvania, some of whom have gravitated towards Barnette because of the former President’s decision.
Trump said in a statement Thursday that Barnette was not a viable general election candidate.
“Kathy Barnette will never be able to win the General Election against the Radical Left Democrats,” he said.
“No one is talking about my old tweets,” she said. “They have got to go 10 years almost into the past to find … not a complete thought or a sentence and say this is who she is.”
Barnette also attacked Fox host Sean Hannity, who has had Oz on his show and asked him about some of her past tweets. She told the audience that Hannity is “doing exactly what he and others have said about the left, he is sowing disinformation in order to suppress our vote, in order to steal an election. That is exactly what they are doing.”
Barnette took issue with that assumption Saturday, arguing that the Republican Party often makes mistakes in choosing nominees.
“I believe the Republican Party has the best story. … We keep picking people who suck at telling our story. We do,” she said. “We keep picking the same old, same old people, thinking we are going to get a different result.”
On the criticisms of her, she added: “Their problem with me is that I didn’t ask for permission. I didn’t ask for permission. I just walked right thorough the front door.”