In Debate, PA GOP Primary Candidates Continue to Embrace Dangerous Stances on Completely Banning Abortion, Attacking Mail Voting
WHYY: “No matter who wins Pennsylvania’s Republican gubernatorial primary, the candidate will probably be someone who supports essentially outlawing abortion, getting rid of mail voting.”
In their debate last night, the crowded Pennsylvania GOP primary field continued to push their far-right positions, including banning abortion with no exemptions and restricting mail voting.
“Abortion, in particular, could be severely curtailed, or effectively outlawed, if one of the four Republicans in Wednesday’s debate [wins],” WHYY reported.
Doug Mastriano, Bill McSwain, Lou Barletta, and Dave White all support a total abortion ban, and “Mastriano and White both said they support a total ban on abortion, without any exceptions for cases of rape, incest, or medical emergencies in which the life of a mother is at stake.”
In the debate, the GOP candidates were “battling to prove who can be most conservative and, perhaps more importantly, most like former President Donald Trump.”
Their desperate kissing up to Trump was most apparent in their embrace of the Big Lie. Throughout the debate, they promoted getting rid of no excuse mail-in voting, using baseless claims of voter fraud to justify their extremist policies.
And even though the Republicans agreed on many far-right policies, the infighting that has dominated the primary reared its head again last night. Mastriano slammed McSwain for not being extreme enough, saying, “As Donald Trump said, he chickened out. He was a coward.”
Barletta and White even signaled they’d want to attack businesses that disagree with them by touting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ attack on Disney that threatens to raise taxes on working families.
“The GOP primary candidates put their extremism on full display again last night and once again proved why they’re all unfit to lead Pennsylvania,” said DGA Deputy Communications Director Sam Newton. “The Republicans running for governor are too busy embracing harmful policies and out-Trumping one another to address the biggest issues working families face.”
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