Trump backs Dr. Oz: Will Pennsylvania MAGA voters embrace it?

Former President Donald Trump endorsed Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania's crowded Republican Senate primary, ending months of jockeying for his support.

In a statement Saturday evening, Trump said his decision was “all about winning elections” as he formally backed the celebrity heart surgeon best known as the host of daytime TV’s “The Dr. Oz Show."

“The Great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has a tremendous opportunity to Save America by electing the brilliant and well-known Dr. Mehmet Oz for the United States Senate,” Trump said, in part. Later, at a rally in North Carolina, he said: “You know when you’re in television for 18 years, that’s like a poll. That means people like you."

Oz had been competing for Trump's endorsement in the May 17 primary against former hedge fund CEO David McCormick, whose wife, Dina Powell, served in Trump's administration. The two had gone to extensive lengths to win over the former president, who remains deeply popular with the Republican base and has been wooed by candidates in primary races across the country.