Biden on Oz: 'Delaware was smart enough to send him to New Jersey'

President Joe Biden on Thursday winked at carpetbagging allegations against Mehmet Oz, Pennsylvania’s Republican Senate nominee, as he backed Democrat John Fetterman at a Philadelphia fundraiser.

“I couldn’t believe it. He went to high school in Delaware,” Biden said of Oz, a nod at the president’s home state.

“But Delaware was smart enough to send him to New Jersey,” Biden said to laughs from the Democratic audience.

The comment was one example of the special attention the president seemed to show to the Pennsylvania race for U.S. Senate, as he cast Fetterman’s election as pivotal. Biden suggested that a flurry of policy decisions hinged on maintaining control of the Senate, and therefore on electing Fetterman in the swing state.

“If, in fact, we lose the Senate, say goodbye to lower medical costs. Gone,” Biden said shortly after saying Fetterman has “got to win.”

Oz has recently narrowed his polling deficit against Fetterman, trailing within the margin of sampling error in a survey conducted this month. The race is widely regarded as crucial for both parties in winning a Senate majority.

The president maintained his concern that Republicans would cut aid to Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion.

“They said that if they win, they’re likely to not continue to fund Ukraine,” Biden said. “These guys don’t get it.”

Biden said that he had seen opposition ads against Fetterman — an uncommon acknowledgment from the president — but that he wanted to “be standing next to Big John when he wins.”

At a stop in a Pittsburgh-area sandwich shop earlier in the day, Biden told reporters he was “worried” about whether aid to Ukraine would continue to be approved with Republicans in charge.

His aides have privately suggested that current House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, if he became House speaker, could waver and continue funding Ukraine in some capacity, POLITICO previously reported.

Biden, who was born in Pennsylvania and made his first official 2020 campaign appearance in Philadelphia, has visited the state frequently during his time in office.

Christopher Cadelago and Adam Cancryn contributed to this report.