Democrats are 'salivating': Trump considers backing pro-QAnon Capitol riot witness for PA governor
On Friday, Axios reported that former President Donald Trump is considering giving an endorsement of Doug Mastriano for governor of Pennsylvania.
"Trump is worried about his endorsed Senate candidate Dr. Oz losing, according to two sources familiar with the situation, so his endorsement of Mastriano could be a way of hedging his bets on Tuesday," said the report. "Republicans are also belatedly panicking over the previously unimaginable prospect that Kathy Barnette could win their party's nomination for the open Senate seat in Pennsylvania, as Axios reported."
The trouble for Pennsylvania Republicans, though, is that a Mastriano nomination is the exact last thing they want. Many Republicans in the crowded field of candidates are dropping out and throwing support behind former Congressman Lou Barletta, himself a pro-Trump figure, in an eleventh-hour attempt to consolidate voters behind an alternative to Mastriano.
Even by Trump supporter standards, Mastriano is incredibly controversial.
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He helped organize buses to the Capitol on January 6 and was on the Capitol grounds during the violent attack — although he denies participating in the attack himself — and has been subpoenaed by House investigators on the matter. He has also attended events promoting the QAnon conspiracy theory, which states that America is run by a network of Satanic child-trafficking cannibals, and has ties to the "Rod of Iron Ministries," a church that teaches the AR-15 is literally a holy instrument ordained by the Bible.
"Democrats are salivating because they see him as beatable in a general election even in a political environment that's extremely favorable to Republicans. Leading Democratic candidate Josh Shapiro even ran an ad highlighting Mastriano in the primary contest," noted the report. "With time running out before Tuesday's primaries, Republicans are panicking about the prospect of such a polarizing candidate with limited appeal leading the ticket."
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