Doug Mastriano, a Christian nationalism-promoting election conspiracy theorist who won the Republican Party’s gubernatorial primary in May, has come under fire for his ties to Andrew Torba, the antisemitic Christian nationalist founder of the far-right social media platform Gab.
Since its founding, Gab has been a haven for antisemites, white nationalists, and other bigots who have been kicked off of Twitter and other mainstream social media platforms, creating a cesspool so toxic that even MAGA cultist Bill Mitchell abandoned the platform after growing tired of dealing with its “large white supremacist, bigotry community.”
Mastriano, by contrast, has no such qualms about courting that community; he spent $5,000 promoting his campaign on the platform and has even been interviewed by Torba himself. For his part, Torba has been a vocal supporter of Mastriano, penning a column last week in which he declared that “Christians need to be supporting Doug Mastriano.”
On Friday, Democrat Josh Shapiro, who is running against Mastriano for governor in Pennsylvania, appeared on MSNBC to discuss Mastriano’s ties to Gab, which prompted Torba to hold a livestream response in which he repeatedly made his Christian nationalism explicitly clear.
“We are going to build a coalition of Christian nationalists, of Christians, of Christian candidates at the state, local, and federal levels, and we’re gonna take this country back for the glory of God,” Torba declared. “[Mastriano] is our guy, and this is Pennsylvania’s guy, and he’s going to turn this state around for the glory of God. And that is the mission here, folks.”
“This isn’t a big tent,” Torba continued. “This is a Christian movement, full stop. The only way that we’re going to gain any ground in the culture, in the government, in taking our towns, our cities, our states, our counties in our country back is by putting Jesus Christ first. It’s just that simple. There’s no other way. There’s no other path.”
Torba dismissed right-wing activists like Dave Rubin, who is gay, and Ben Shapiro, who is Jewish, saying there is no reason that people like that should be leaders in the conservative movement.
“These people aren’t conservative,” he said. “They’re not Christian. They don’t share our values. They have inverted values from us as Christians. So don’t fall for the bait. Don’t fall for the bait of Populism Inc. Don’t fall for the bait of this pseudo-conservatism, big tent nonsense. This is a Christian movement, and this movement needs to be centered on the gospel and truth of God’s word and of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior and King. That is the only way that this is going to work.”
“Now that the media is attacking Christian nationalism, they’re attacking Jesus Christ, and that is a very bad move,” Torba warned. “We are going to take back this country for the glory of God. This is an explicitly Christian movement because this is an explicitly Christian country. From its founding, throughout its entire history, it has been an explicitly Christian country, and people are starting to remember that, and that needs to be the focal point of this movement.”
“That is how we are going to win,” Torba proclaimed. “The entire platform is centered around God’s word, is centered around putting Jesus Christ first again, in our schools, in our culture, in our homes, in our media, in our entertainment, in our news, everything.”
