A photograph of Doug Mastriano in Confederate uniform poses is not an issue, but his allies as Pennsylvania’s gubernatorial candidates insist that the Democrats want to make the photo a litmus-test for the Trump-backed Republican’s fitness to run for office.
The photo is from the 2013-14 academic year when Mr. Mastriano was working at the Army War College, according to Reuters, which acquired the photo through a Freedom of Information Act request and published it Saturday.
This is a picture of the War College’s Faculty for the Department of Military Strategy, Plans and Operations, which he was working at that time.
The outlet claimed that the faculty had the opportunity to wear historical clothing for the photograph.
Mr. Mastriano was the only person wearing any clothing related to Confederacy. Most of the staff appear to have been in uniforms of military or business wear, although some faculty members did take on historical costumes.
The War College pulled down the photograph after Reuters submitted its FOIA request.
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Pennsylvania Attorney-General Josh Shapiro used the photograph to attack Mr. Mastroiano during a Saturday rally.
” This man is dangerous, out-of-touch,” Shapiro stated. “This man does not respect you or share our common values of humanity
But members of Mr. Mastriano’s campaign team as well as Republicans within the state think that the exaggerated reaction to the photograph is not justified.
Jenna Ellis was the senior legal adviser to the Mastriano campaign and he criticized Saturday’s overblown coverage.
Media MELT Down that Mastriano may have once been a historical civil war figure in order to take a photograph. And? And? The Left wants history to be erased. @dougmastriano wants us to learn from it. I invite @Reuters to go on a Gettysburg tour with Doug. It will be a great experience!
— Jenna Ellis (@JennaEllisEsq) August 26, 2022
Sam Demarco of the Allegheny County Republican Party told Reuters that the dredging of the photograph is yet another reason why those to the right distrust the media.
” It happened many years ago,” Lee Snover of Northampton County’s Republican Party said to Reuters. “There was a Civil War, which included Confederate soldiers. So not sure what the major deal is .”
Ms. Snowver said she did not support the removal of the photo, saying that “I don’t like liberals taking down our history .”
John Varnas is a Perry County resident who supports Mr. Mastriano and said that he still votes for him because “he’s conservative and he’s pro-life,” WPMT reported.
Mr. Mastriano retired from the Army in 2017 with the rank of colonel.
A state senator from central Pennsylvania who won the endorsement of former President Donald Trump earlier in this year.
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