By Anna Good

Copyright dailydot

A California dentist is facing backlash after a resurfaced clip from a Republican gala showed her making political jokes about her patients. The video, which spread across TikTok and X, prompted a flood of negative Yelp reviews for Dr. Harleen Grewal’s Santa Clarita practice, Skyline Smiles.

A video posted to X appears to show Dr. Grewal joking during a speech about how she treated patients who disagreed with her political beliefs. In the video, she looks to be laughing while suggesting that non-Republican patients received less laughing gas, so dental work would feel more painful.

“I have a secret hat I use sometimes, it says, ‘make your smile great again,’” she is heard saying in the clip. “So I wear that when I work with my patients. So when they look horrified, or complain, I quietly cut back on the laughing gas, and say, ‘you got this, it’s not as bad as you think it is.’”

“I stole that from Joe Biden,” she laughed.

She also remarked that she preferred when liberals stayed home during COVID and wished they had continued doing so. The now-deleted original TikTok video of Grewal’s speech was screen-recorded and posted on X.

There, folks argued about whether her statements reflected her actual practice. However, Grewal later clarified in both a podcast interview and an opinion piece that the comments were not intended to be taken literally. She described the lines as jokes made during a speech and said they had been misrepresented.

“The California Dental Board sent an investigator to my office after a bogus complaint from someone I’ve never met or treated,” Grewal wrote in her Santa Clarita Valley Signal op-ed.

“The accusation? That I ‘torture’ patients who don’t share my political views. This ridiculous claim was pulled from a lighthearted joke I made during a speech at the Republican Liberty Gala. My words were twisted, and my career was targeted—but I didn’t back down.”

Social media fuels Yelp review-bombing

Despite her explanation, her practice’s Yelp page quickly attracted waves of 1-star reviews. Many reviewers said they saw the clip online and no longer trusted her. Importantly, these reviews reflected the opinions of individuals posting online, not verified patient experiences.

One reviewer wrote, “I just seen footage of this dentist talking about mistreatment of patients if they are not Trump supporters. She said she removes the laughing gas if her patients disapprove of her MAGA hat. She also made fun of her patients who wore masks. I would not patronize this business because the dentist’s behavior in that video on TikTok is unethical. She has not apologized. Dental treatment should not be political.”

Others echoed similar concerns. Several reviews claimed they would avoid the practice altogether, while a few called on regulators to investigate. Consequently, Skyline Smiles’ rating dropped as new reviews flooded in.

Another review-bomber from Chicago wrote, “This doctor bragged on video that she treats patients differently based on their political views. This is not just unprofessional. It is unethical and scary. She should never work in a medical office again.”

Some commenters defended Grewal. They argued that her remarks were clearly jokes and accused critics of attempting to silence her politically. Grewal herself has framed the backlash as part of what she calls “cancel culture.” In her op-ed, she wrote that she refused to back down despite complaints to law enforcement and the California Dental Board.

She explained that investigators visited her office after anonymous reports accused her of both illegal ballot collection and mistreatment of patients. She maintained that her ballot harvesting followed California law and that her patient care was never political.

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Dr. Harleen Grewal and Skyline Smiles did not respond immediately to the Daily Dot’s request for comment via Instagram DM and email, respectively.

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