“Ambitious Republicans Are Flocking To Steve Bannon’s Podcast For A Chance To Demonstrate Loyalty To Trump And Audition For The Former President’s Support” — including Pennsylvania’s own Lou Barletta, Jake Corman and Doug Mastriano.
PENNSYLVANIA — Steve Bannon’s podcast is a “dangerous fantasyland of election lies” — but that hasn’t kept far-right PA-Gov candidates like Lou Barletta, Jake Corman, and Doug Mastriano from going on the show and using their appearances to highlight their complete obsession with the Big Lie and total allegiance to Donald Trump.
In an interview with NBC News, Bannon himself repeated unhinged election conspiracy theories, calling them “a litmus test” for Republicans and claiming, “There will not be a Republican that wins a primary for 2022 — not one — that doesn’t take the pledge to get to the bottom of Nov. 3.” Republican candidates for Governor are clearly listening to Bannon, as they continue to peddle the Big Lie and embrace absurd conspiracy theories.
Check out some highlights from their appearances:
Lou Barletta
As Lou Barletta geared up to launch his gubernatorial bid, he stopped by Bannon’s podcast in-person. Bannon hailed Barletta as “a legendary figure in the Trump movement” for being one of Trump’s earliest supporters in Congress.
Barletta, in turn, expressed admiration for the work Bannon does spreading conspiracy theories and made clear to listeners where his allegiance lies, saying, “Donald Trump is still the leader of the Republican Party, and anybody that believes otherwise, they don’t know what they’re talking about, and especially in Pennsylvania.”
Barletta then doubled down on the Big Lie, falsely claiming that Pennsylvania’s election was “a buffet of irregularities” — it’s no wonder he still refuses to admit Donald Trump lost Pennsylvania.
Jake Corman
Over the past several months, Jake Corman has undergone quite the “MAGA makeover” — even taking the audit away from its original architect Doug Mastriano so he could take the credit — and now he’s appeared on Bannon’s show twice to boast his MAGA bonafides.
While on the show, Corman spoke directly about his loyalty to Trump and the Big Lie, saying of the fraudit, “we’re 100% committed” — and he has continued to push forward in Harrisburg, even if his subpoenas put 9 million Pennsylvanians’ private information at risk.
Doug Mastriano
Far-right darling Doug Mastriano has also joined Bannon twice in recent months. Mastriano participated in the Jan. 6 insurrection, used campaign funds to bus Pennsylvanians to D.C., traveled to Arizona to visit their sham audit, and fueled Trump’s fixation on fraudits. So it’s no surprise that on Bannon’s podcast, he repeated his commitment to election conspiracy theories, saying, “We want to go through everything, to let everyone know clearly that this is about voter integrity.”
Mastriano is the original architect of Harrisburg Republicans’ fraudit and had demanded information from three Pennsylvania counties before Corman kneecapped his arch-rival Mastriano — taking the audit and reassigning his staffers.
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