Dr Oz told radio show incest ‘not a big problem’ as long as ‘more than a first cousin away’
‘Yet another issue where Oz and I disagree,’ tweets opponent John Fetterman
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Dr Mehmet Oz raised eyebrows by suggesting in a newly unearthed radio interview that incest was “not a big problem” as long as “you’re more than a first cousin away.”
The candidate for Pennsylvania’s US Senate seat also told The Breakfast Club show in February 2014 that girls don’t want to have sex with their fathers because of pheromones.
“My daughters hate my smell,” the Republican nominee said on the show.
His Democratic opponent John Fetterman was quick to latch onto the comments, tweeting, “Yet another issue where Oz and I disagree.”
Dr Oz got embroiled in the subject when he was asked on the show about advising a listener involved in a sexual relationship with their cousin.
“If you’re more than a first cousin away, it’s not a big problem,” said Oz in the interview, according to Jezebel.com.
When one of the hosts asked him about “third cousins”, Dr Oz replied, “Yeah. It’s fine.”
“Every family has genetic strengths and weaknesses,” he told them.
“And so the reason we naturally crave people who are not so like us is because you just mix the gene pool up a little bit so that if I had one gene for, let’s say, hemophilia, which is a classic example where you bleed a lot if you cut yourself, I don’t want to marry a cousin who has the same hemophilia gene, because the chance of our child having both those genes is much higher.”
He then carried on to talk about fathers and daughters.
“You know, that’s why children, girls don’t like their fathers’ smell. Their pheromones will actually repel their daughters because they’re not supposed to be together. My daughters hate my smell,” he said.
One of the hosts then told him that “maybe you just smell” to which he replied, “My wife says she likes the smell.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments