ICYMI: PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER: SUPPORTING TRUMP’S ELECTION LIE IS BECOMING A LITMUS TEST FOR PENNSYLVANIA REPUBLICANS

Pennsylvania Republicans “have doubled down on the lies and conspiracies that sparked the insurrection” as Trump’s Big Lie becomes a “litmus test.”

PENNSYLVANIA — Ahead of President Biden’s speech in Philadelphia today calling on Americans to rally together to defend our democracy, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported on how Donald Trump’s Big Lie has already become a central “litmus test” for Republicans running for statewide office. 

In the Republican primary for governor alone, Doug Mastriano has devoted himself to Trump’s pet issue of a sham “audit,” Lou Barletta has appointed election conspiracy theorists to advise him, and Bill McSwain has become a serial liar in a desperate attempt to win Trump’s endorsement. In Pennsylvania’s Republican primary for U.S. Senate, the piece notes that Sean Parnell, Jeff Bartos, and Carla Sands have all elevated baseless conspiracy theories as well. Parnell has even been called out by media outlets in western Pennsylvania for his flip flopping on the subject, demonstrating how this issue may cause problems for the candidates once they need to appeal to wider electorates. 

As Steve Bannon predicted in May, the Big Lie has already become a “litmus test” for Republican candidates — as he told NBC News, “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.” Every day, another Pennsylvania Republican proves Trump’s former chief strategist right.

In case you missed it, check out the story below: 

Philadelphia Inquirer: Supporting Trump’s election lies is becoming a litmus test for Pennsylvania Republicans seeking higher office

By Jonathan Tamari, 07/13/21 

The six-month anniversary of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol prompted somber reflections on one of the darkest moments in recent American history.

But far from creating a moment of regret or reflection, last week’s grim milestone also showed how many Republicans — including in Pennsylvania — have doubled down on the lies and conspiracies that sparked the insurrection. As former President Donald Trump continues promoting the fantasy of a stolen election, key Pennsylvania Republicans have amplified or nodded toward that fiction, using their loyalty to the lie as a selling point in their bids for higher office.

Calls for a new election review, and casting aspersions on the 2020 results, are now a key element of GOP primaries nationally and in Pennsylvania, where the state has critical elections for governor and U.S. Senate next year. It’s also driving Republican pushes for tighter election laws, an effort President Joe Biden hopes to counter Tuesday when he comes to Philadelphia to deliver a speech on voting rights.

Last Wednesday, six months and one day after the Capitol protest he joined turned into a riot, State Sen. Doug Mastriano announced he would try to create a Pennsylvania version of Arizona’s widely criticized partisan election review.

[…]Also hoping for Trump’s support, Lou Barletta, another Republican gubernatorial hopeful who has refused to acknowledge Biden’s victory, pointed to his own past calls for an investigation and his campaign’s “election integrity commission.” And as former U.S. Attorney Bill McSwain prepares to enter the gubernatorial race, he privately wrote to Trump handing the former president more ammunition for his fraud claims — and seeking his endorsement.

[…]

With Trump still reigning as the party’s most powerful figure, his election grievances have become a litmus test for Republican candidates. Even those who haven’t questioned the results have felt compelled to support new reviews, despite numerous audits and oversight by bipartisan elections officials, judges, and Trump’s own Justice Department that affirmed the election results.

[…]“We need a full forensic audit in all the states where we had issues, and Pennsylvania certainly had issues,” Republican Senate candidate Jeff Bartos recently said in a May interview with former Trump strategist Steve Bannon. Another Senate candidate, Sean Parnell, also told Bannon he supports an audit of the 2020 results, as well as in other elections.

[…]

“The government can audit American citizens at any time,” Parnell, who last year led a failed lawsuit seeking to throw out all of Pennsylvania’s 2.6 million mail ballots, said in a statement. “… Why shouldn’t the government be subject to the same standard?”

[…]

Carla Sands, Trump’s former ambassador to Denmark and now a Senate candidate, pointed to Mastriano’s visit to observe Arizona’s election review when she told conservative radio host Chris Stigall last week that “I believe that they want our election to have integrity and be honest and fair.”

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