I'm not sure exactly what PA State Senator (and now GOP cand. for PA Gov) Doug Mastriano's whining about here:
Doug Mastriano really does not like being held accountable by the free press for his words and actions.
— J.J. Abbott 📮 (@jjabbott) July 27, 2022
And today he’s back on Facebook, melting down over his coverage, pretending he’s the victim, *while driving*.
Just pathetic stuff. #PAGOV pic.twitter.com/xZ5ttvxS3G
But I would guess that Doug's not happy with this coverage in The NY Times:
Doug Mastriano, the Republican nominee for governor of Pennsylvania, is under increasing scrutiny over his connections to the far-right social media platform Gab and its founder, who has repeatedly made antisemitic remarks defending their ties.
Early this month, news emerged that Mr. Mastriano’s campaign had paid Gab, a haven for white nationalists and users banned from other platforms, $5,000 for “consulting,” according to a state filing that was first uncovered by Media Matters for America, a liberal watchdog group.
Since then, Mr. Mastriano, a far-right state senator who has falsely argued that the 2020 presidential election was stolen and who rarely speaks to traditional news outlets, has ignored criticism of his association with Gab.
But the platform’s founder and chief executive, Andrew Torba, has hit back — most recently, using an anti-Jewish trope.
“We’re not bending the knee to the 2 percent anymore,” Mr. Torba said in a video this week, an apparent reference to the rough percentage of the country that is Jewish.
And I'm wondering if he's re-thinking the wisdom of spending that five grand on all that lovely Gab-access.
But he did. And now Doug Mastriano has to own it.
BTW, if you were to go to GAB right now, you'll find this:
Ah. Such lovely people. Good people on both sides, you know. That's what Doug paid that 5K for.
The Times piece links to this piece at The Jerusalem Post. It was published 2 days ago. So far Doug Mastriano has been silent on Torba and what Torba is quoted as saying in the piece.
So what did Torba say?
Glad you asked. Take a look:
"This is the most important election of the 2022 midterms because Doug is an outspoken Christian," said Torba in the video, complaining about the reports condemning Gab and Mastriano's decision to buy advertising on the site. "We are going to build a coalition of Christian nationalists, of Christians, of Christian candidates, at the state, local and federal levels and we're going to take this country back for the glory of God."
And:
"My policy is not to conduct interviews with reporters who aren't Christian or with outlets who aren't Christian and Doug has a very similar media strategy where he does not do interviews with these people. He does not talk to these people. He does not give press access to these people," said the Gab founder. "These people are dishonest. They're liars. They're a den of vipers and they want to destroy you. My typical conversation with them when they email me is 'repent and accept Jesus Christ as your lord and savior.' I take it as an opportunity to try and convert them."
A den of vipers? Really?
And again:
We don't want people who are atheists. We don't want people who are Jewish. We don't want people who are, you know, nonbelievers, agnostic, whatever. This is an explicitly Christian movement because this is an explicitly Christian country. We're not saying we're going to deport all these people or whatever. You're free to stay here. You're not going to be forced to convert or anything like this because that's not biblical whatsoever. But you're going to enjoy the fruits of living in a Christian society under Christian laws and under a Christian culture and you can thank us later.
Does Doug Mastriano really want to be in business with this guy? If he doesn't he'd better speak out and soon.
If he does want to be in business with him, then let him keep doing what he's doing: remain silent and soak up all that sweet sweet antisemitic love.
However, from PA House Rep Dan Frankel:
You cannot do business with these people and claim to represent all Pennsylvanians,” he said. “If you embrace antisemites and racists and homophobes and xenophobes, then you are one of them.
And:
There's no coming back from this.
Your move, Doug.
