Mar. 24, 2022 — President Joe Biden has removed two Trump-appointed members of the President’s Council on Sports, Nutrition and Fitness: daytime television host Mehmet Oz, MD, and former football star Herschel Walker.
Both Oz and Walker have announced their bids for the U.S. Senate, which the White House said precludes them from serving on boards. The letter from the White House Office of Presidential Personnel asked them to resign Wednesday or be removed by the end of the day.
However, the two took to social media with claims that the requested resignation was political. Both men are Republicans.
“I received this letter on behalf of @POTUS requesting I resign from the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition,” Oz tweeted. “It’s sad that he would politicize such an important issue like health. The doctor he should ask to resign is Dr. Fauci, for a multitude of obvious reasons.”
“President Biden is so scared about us beating Raphael Warnock that he has asked me to resign from my unpaid position on the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition,” Walker Tweeted, referring to his Democratic Senate opponent. “I’m not a quitter so you are going to have to fire me.”
The White House announced appointees to replace Oz and Walker: chef and humanitarian José Andrés, and WBNA star Elena Delle Donne, who founded the Elena Delle Donne Charitable Foundation to raise money for Lyme Disease research and special needs programs.
Both men face May primaries. Walker announced his candidacy in Georgia on Aug. 25 and Oz announced his candidacy in Pennsylvania on Nov. 30.
