Oz warned suburbanites that fentanyl has turned Pennsylvania into a border state. The applause line fell flat with a Philadelphian who said drugs like crack are still wreaking havoc.

Mehmet Oz, a candidate for US Senate representing Pennsylvania, campaigns in Bensalem.

Warren Rojas / Insider

• Mehmet Oz campaigned on Tuesday in the Philadelphia suburbs where he spoke about fentanyl. 
• The GOP talking point hit home with one rally-goer but fell flat with another who said there were other drugs plaguing the inner city.
• The GOP candidate running for US Senate is facing a tight race against Democrat John Fetterman.

BENSALEM, Pennsylvania – Senate Republican hopeful Mehmet Oz leaned into the GOP's war on fentanyl Tuesday, warning supporters at a rally in suburban Philadelphia that keeping illicit drugs out of the hands of unsuspecting Americans is one of the top three issues at play in the midterm elections. 

"I've talked to families in every part of the Commonwealth who fear what's in their mailbox because they know their kids literally order pain pills which are laced with fentanyl that could kill them," Oz told a few hundred supporters who'd gathered to cheer him on at a local firehouse. 

The Trump-backed celebrity doctor, who also told attendees that they needed to vote Republican next week in order to stabilize the economy and quash rising crime, punctuated his drug control pitch by sharing an anecdote about a woman who he said at a prior rally told a story about finding her 32-year-old daughter dead from an accidental overdose. 

"That makes us a border state," Oz said. "That fentanyl came across the border." 

The scare tactic, which Republicans all around the country have used to hit President Joe Biden for halting the construction of Donald Trump's border wall and as a soft-on-crime cudgel, didn't ring exactly true for Philadelphia resident Don Jackson.

"I know fentanyl is like the big thing on the list, but there's a lot of drugs in the inner community. There's still people out here that are smoking crack, believe it or not," Jackson told Insider after Oz's speech 

Jackson, who said he runs a technical training school in Philadelphia and works with at-risk inner-city children, gave Oz credit for talking bluntly about how crime and drugs destroy communities. And while Jackson said problems at the southern border are certainly felt throughout the country, "Philadelphians are pretty much not really affected by that." 

Oz, who is facing off in a tight race against Democrat Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, fared better on the border front with a first-time rally-goer who said she knew exactly what he was talking about. 

"Like he said, you can get drugs but you can't get baby formula," Terry, a middle-aged woman who declined to give her last name, added that during the pandemic she had had to run all over the city looking for formula" for her granddaughter. 

The Bensalem resident told Insider she moved away from Philadelphia because of all the issues Oz laid out. 

"I just think the drugs are out of control," Terry said, adding, "I used to work in the city. I would never go down into the city again."

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