July 28, 2022

The CEO of Gab, the extreme-right social media cesspool, has some words for those criticising Doug Mastriano for using his site as part of his gubernatorial campaign. Via Media Matters:

Andrew Torba, Gab CEO and consultant to Republican Pennsylvania gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano, responded to criticism of Mastriano using his antisemitic platform by telling Jews that “we're not bending the knee to the 2% anymore.” He also said that people are “done” with them and they won’t be “told what we're allowed to do in our own country by a 2% minority.”

Mastriano stated in a campaign filing for his Pennsylvania gubernatorial campaign that he paid $5,000 to far-right social media platform Gab for “consulting” services on April 28. HuffPost’s Christopher Mathias subsequently reported that the payment seems to be for new followers, as “every new account currently being created on Gab automatically follows Mastriano.” (Torba has denied this while Mastriano has responded by retweeting someone calling the strategy “creative campaigning.”)

In a May interview with Torba, Mastriano told him: “Thank God for what you’ve done.”

Torba himself is antisemitic and has complained that “pagans, Jews, non-believers, atheists” have too much political power, which has purportedly led to destructive results. He has also explicitly said that he does not want Jews in his movement, stating last week: “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.”

If it makes you feel any better, Josh Shapiro has a substantial lead. But we can't let our guard down for a minute.

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