Doug Mastriano faces criticism over his support of an anti-Semitic ally

Doug Mastriano, the Republican candidate for governor of Pennsylvania, has come under increasing scrutiny for his ties to the far-right social media platform Gab and its founder, which has repeatedly made anti-Semitic slurs to defend their ties.

Early this month, news emerged that Mr. Mastriano's campaign had paid Gab, a shelter for white nationalists and users banned from other platforms, $5,000 for "consultation," according to a state filing that was first uncovered by Media Matters for America, a liberal watchdog group.

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Since then, Mr. Mastriano, a far-right state senator who has falsely argued that the 2020 presidential election was stolen and who rarely speaks to mainstream media, ignored criticism of its association with Gab.

But the platform's founder and CEO, Andrew Torba, has hit back — most recently, using an anti-Jewish trope.

"We no longer bend the knee to the 2%," Torba said in a video this week, an apparent reference to the approximate percentage of the country that is Jewish.

Mr. Torba was responding to an appearance on MSNBC Tuesday by Jonathan Greenblatt, the chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, in which he criticized Mr. Mastriano for using Gab to post messages and gain political supporters.

Mr. Torba and his platform support Christian nationalism, the idea that America was founded to advance Christians, and biblical values.

"We are taking our country back" , he added. "We're taking our government back, so do it."

"Andrew Torba is one of the most toxic people in public life right now," said Mr. Greenblatt. says MSNBC. "Elected officials who indulge in this kind of rhetoric are not just flirting with fascism, they are putting it at the forefront of their political argument."

Short time after the Mastriano campaign payment, in April, Mr. Torba interviewed Mr. Mastriano on his site, when the candidate told him, "Thank God for what you did."

Ahead of the May 17 primary in Pennsylvania, Gab backed Mr. Mastriano, who was at the forefront of Republican efforts to overturn the 2020 results in the state.

Mr. Mastriano won the nomination in a split field, despite warnings from some Republican officials that he was too extreme to win in November. Recent polls have shown him running a surprisingly close race against Democratic candidate Josh Shapiro. to increase his number of followers on the site: new users seemed to be automatically assigned as followers of the Republican candidate. In recent days, Mr. Torba, who is based in Pennsylvania, has repeatedly responded to criticism of him and Mr. Mastriano by reinforcing his own Christian nationalist and anti-Semitic views.