HARRISBURG — Donald Trump endorsed Doug Mastroiano in Pennsylvania’s Republican primary. He sided with a far-right candidate who was not inside the U.S. Capitol during Jan. 6’s insurrection, and who has worked tirelessly to reverse the 2020 election results.
Mastriano led a field of candidates and his endorsement gives him an even stronger position heading into Tuesday’s primary.
But party leaders are increasingly concerned that Mastriano (a former U.S. Army colonel and state senator) is too extreme to win November’s general election. He could also drag down other Republicans in the pivotal state, where a U.S. Senate spot is also up for grabs.
Mastriano, for instance, has helped to spread unsubstantiated claims by Trump and his associates that Democrats fraudulently stole Joe Biden’s election — something Trump took advantage of in his endorsement statement.
“There is no one in Pennsylvania that has done more or fought harder for Election Integrity than Doug Mastriano,” Trump wrote. “He has revealed the Deceit, Corruption, and outright Theft of the 2020 Presidential Election, and will do something about it.”
Trump called Mastriano “a fighter like few others, and has been with me right from the beginning, and now I have an obligation to be with him.”