On Thursday’s NBC Today, co-hosts Savannah Guthrie and Willie Geist interrogated Dr. Mehmet Oz about his interview with Donald Trump for his daytime talk show. Guthrie began by questioning the health records provided by the Republican nominee on the program: “Seems like it was a genuine surprise, him handing you this piece of paper with medical results. Didn't give you a big chance to really look at it beforehand....could you tell just by looking right then and there whether it was legit and comprehensive?”
Later in the exchange, she criticized Oz for even having Trump on the show: “This wasn’t without controversy. Some people looked at this and said what is a presidential candidate doing on a TV doctor show? Were you concerned at all about being, for lack of a better word, kind of used in that way?”
Oz pushed back hard:
Well, I invited both candidates to come on a month ago, and Mr. Trump agreed last week....I'm a real doctor, I still practice medicine, I have a show that reaches millions of people, especially folks who are focused on the health topic. I think it's a very logical thing. Why not release it on a show that talks to people everyday about health and have some context put on the results? You’re not just throwing a bunch of numbers in a newspaper or a reporter, you’re actually given with a doctor who can guide you through what it means.
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For his part, Geist demanded: “A lot of people expected Donald Trump to release these publicly. He put them through the filter of you, Dr. Oz. Are you able to say with your reputation, the trust people have in you, unqualified that Donald Trump is healthy enough to be president?” Oz assured him: “The records that I got without question indicate he’s healthy enough to be president. If I, as a doctor, had a patient like him, I would think – say he had good health for a man of his age and I’d send him on his way.”
Geist dismissed that assessment: “I think people expect the standard to be a little higher for someone who wants to be president, rather than a routine check-up for someone who’d come into your office. Wouldn't you like to see more of his health records or perform some of the examinations yourself?”
Discussing the topic at the top of the 9 a.m. ET hour, co-host Tamron Hall warned: “This was a risky move for Dr. Oz. I have to be honest. You got [Democratic] Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri, she was on MSNBC Morning Joe a few minutes ago slamming Dr. Oz. Just feeling that this is a very serious issue and that she compared it to hucksters.”
Fellow co-host Billy Bush defended him: “...he's not just a TV doctor....He is a practicing cardiothoracic surgeon.”
Hall replied:
But he was brought in front of, you know, Congress at a hearing about some of the claims of products that he's made. And my point is not to make this about Dr. Oz or litigate his issues, it's when you get into politics. When we chat about it on this show, you are instantly in the cross-hairs of at least half of America. People are not going to like what you say.
NBC never seemed concerned that hosts were being “used” whenever President Obama appeared on a daytime or late-night talk show throughout his presidency. The network certainly wasn’t concerned when, in the midst of the 2012 election, First Lady Michelle Obama went on Dr. Oz’s show promote her “health crusade” against childhood obesity.
Here is a full transcript of the September 15 interview with Dr. Oz:
7:05 AM ET
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Let's bring in Dr. Mehmet Oz. Dr. Oz, good morning to you.
DR. MEHMET OZ: Good morning.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Trump Shares Physical Exam Results; Dr. Oz on GOP Nominee’s Medical Checkup]
GUTHRIE: Seems like it was a genuine surprise, him handing you this piece of paper with medical results. Didn't give you a big chance to really look at it beforehand. Was that a disadvantage? I mean, could you tell just by looking right then and there whether it was legit and comprehensive?
DR. OZ: Well, the letter is a typical document that one physician will give another regarding a patient. So every time I see a patient in my office, like later today up at Columbia, I’m going to get letters like that from patients, so you do process them pretty quickly. It was a comprehensive summary of a battery of tests, some which occurred last week. He also, in that letter, was – it was outlined by his doctor, other tests he’s had. Traditional screening tests, colonoscopys, heart scans and the like. And I invited both candidates, because I know health has become such a big issue in this campaign, on to the show. And Mr. Trump agreed to come and I was surprised when he produced those records. All I really wanted to do was ask a review of system, the checklist of the typical things that a doctor would want to ask someone they didn’t know, a new patient.
GUTHRIE: So you asked additional questions?
DR. OZ: I did. Head to toe, you know, just give me a quick idea of what’s going on, on every part of your body. I wanted to try to help bring some clarity to the health of the candidates. Which is why, again, I’m hoping Secretary Clinton will accept the invitation. But I’m glad she released her records because we’re a much more informed country today than we were yesterday about the health of our candidates, which makes me feel good.
WILLIE GEIST: A lot of people expected Donald Trump to release these publicly. He put them through the filter of you, Dr. Oz. Are you able to say with your reputation, the trust people have in you, unqualified that Donald Trump is healthy enough to be president?
DR. OZ: The records that I got without question indicate he’s healthy enough to be president. If I, as a doctor, had a patient like him, I would think – say he had good health for a man of his age and I’d send him on his way. And I think that is, again, reflective of the fact that he’s had appropriate screening throughout the years. I did not do the tests myself, so I can’t confirm that the data was all right, but the summary is pretty clear.
GEIST: I think people expect the standard to be a little higher for someone who wants to be president, rather than a routine check-up for someone who’d come into your office. Wouldn't you like to see more of his health records or perform some of the examinations yourself?
DR. OZ: His doctors have performed his health care exams, but the tests that he had done were the ones I would expect. He had a stress test done on his heart, which is, again, the kind of test that a CEO of a company would get. The letter that I read would be typical for a person who’s running a company, and I think that's pretty parallel – it’s not exactly the same – but pretty parallel to what you want to have in order to judge if someone’s going to be healthy enough to lead you.
GUTHRIE: This wasn’t without controversy. Some people looked at this and said what is a presidential candidate doing on a TV doctor show? Were you concerned at all about being, for lack of a better word, kind of used in that way?
DR. OZ: Well, I invited both candidates to come on a month ago, and Mr. Trump agreed last week. So you know, it was long before Secretary Clinton became ill. The invitation to her is till open, I’d love to have that conversation as well. But I'm a real doctor, I still practice medicine, I have a show that reaches millions of people, especially folks who are focused on the health topic. I think it's a very logical thing. Why not release it on a show that talks to people everyday about health and have some context put on the results? You’re not just throwing a bunch of numbers in a newspaper or a reporter, you’re actually given with a doctor who can guide you through what it means.
GUTHRIE: Dr. Mehmet Oz, thank you so much. By the way, the full interview airs today on The Dr. Oz Show, check your local listings for that.
GEIST: Thanks, Dr. Oz., good to see you.
GUTHRIE: Thank you.
