The attempts to round off Mastriano’s extreme edges fall flat when you consider the eight Republican US Reps. who just endorsed him voted against certifying the 2020 election.
On Monday, eight out of the nine Republican members of Congress from Pennsylvania endorsed the Republican candidate for governor, Doug Mastriano.
The endorsement letter they signed is being used in an attempt to steer the conversation away from Mastriano’s recent courtship with prominent right wing extremists like Andrew Torba, CEO of Gab, a far-right, Pennsylvania based social media entity widely known to be a platform for violent conspiracy theories and racist and antisemitic content.
Recently, Mastriano’s campaign paid the website $5000 for “advertising consulting,” and shortly after, every new Gab account automatically followed Mastriano’s page.
While Mastriano has since distanced himself from Torba in a statement, it’s clear that his team is courting the extremists and hoping they vote in large enough numbers to put him over the top in November.
The association between Mastriano and a wide variety of extremist groups is causing the campaign problems. As a result of his affinity for extremists, his promise to remove voting rights and womens’ health care, and new reports that he was one of the many insurrectionists who broke through police lines on January 6, 2021, Mastriano finds himself down double digits to the Democratic candidate, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro.
The recent endorsement letter is supposed to show Pennsylvania voters that Doug Mastriano has mainstream support, but the attempts to round off his extreme edges fall flat when one very important detail about his congressional endorsers is revealed:
Every single one of the Pennsylvania members of Congress who just endorsed Doug Mastriano voted against certifying the 2020 election.
They voted against certification even after the Trump mob stormed the Capitol, wounded and killed police officers, stole property from the People’s House, urinated and defecated in the halls of Congress, and tried to murder the Vice President.
All eight of Mastriano’s “mainstream” endorsers are pro-insurrection, or at least they voted as such.
Using mainstream endorsers to calm voters after they react poorly to an imperfect candidate is not a new tactic, but this time around, there simply are no mainstream Republicans left.
The GOP in Pennsylvania now consists of election deniers running for governor, and election deniers not running for governor. There seems to be no room for anyone else.
Politics
A look at the groups pushing anti-LGBTQ policies in Pennsylvania schools
Republicans may have suffered embarrassing school board defeats across Pennsylvania in 2023, but that’s not stopping them from working with...
How to apply for a job in the American Climate Corps
The Biden administration announced its plans to expand its New Deal-style American Climate Corps (ACC) green jobs training program last week. ...
Gov. Shapiro is bringing period products back to Pennsylvania’s public schools
In his budget proposal, Gov. Josh Shapiro has called for $3 million to be set aside to provide period products to all public school students free of...
Local News
What do you know about Wawa? 7 fun facts about Pennsylvania’s beloved convenience store
Wawa has 60 years of Pennsylvania roots, and today the commonwealth’s largest private company has more than 1,000 locations along the east coast....
Conjoined twins from Berks County die at age 62
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations,...