Pennsylvania State Sen. Doug Mastriano, who has the endorsement of former President Donald Trump in the race for his state's governor, Monday on Newsmax rejected complaints that his stance is "too extreme" to win in a general election in November if he pulls off a win in Tuesday's primary election.
"It's interesting that the establishment is borrowing from the left that, 'He's too extreme,'" the Pennsylvania Republican said on Newsmax's "John Bachman Now." "Let's talk about that. I'm a retired Army colonel with a top-secret special compartmented information access for 30 years. I had top-secret access to the nation's most sensitive secrets. If there was anything extreme about me, I'd never be entrusted with some of the most sensitive secrets in the nation."
According to an Associated Press report about the endorsement, Mastriano, who was already in the lead in the race, was outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 and has worked hard to vet allegations of election fraud from the 2020 presidential race.
Trump, in his endorsement, mentioned the election integrity work Mastriano has done, saying that "there is no one in Pennsylvania who has done more or fought harder" and that he has "revealed the deceit, corruption, and outright theft of the 2020 presidential election, and will do something about it."
Mastriano would not comment on one of his opponents, Lou Barletta, who got Trump's endorsement in 2018.
"I'll just talk about myself," Mastriano said. "I've run a very positive campaign, and I have not spent any money or used third parties or dark money in any capacity to attack anybody."
But he said when he talked with Trump last week, the former president praised him for having "been there from the beginning with us" and called said he was "fearless" and the "only guy we can trust in Pennsylvania to do the right thing."
This is the first time in 44 years that the Pennsylvania Republican Party has not endorsed a gubernatorial candidate, but that is an opportunity, not a loss, said Mastriano.
"The people can make a vote without influence from the state party apparatus," he said. "Hats off to the party leadership for actually taking that bold stand."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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