Doug Mastriano is holding an event with Jack Posobiec, who has collaborated with neo-Nazis and spread antisemitism
Written by Eric Hananoki
Published
Updated
Update (10/3/22): Posobiec appeared at events for Mastriano on October 1 in Chester County and Bucks County.
Mastriano praised the far-right commentator, stating in Chester: “He is a great American. He's a veteran. He's a champion of conservatism here. He's bold and courageous in the face of the tolerance of the left. And we're so thankful for you.”
Posobiec said following Mastriano’s introduction: “God raises up people when they are needed and I believe that God has raised up this man, this proud Pennsylvanian, to lead us through these dark times and to bring us back to the state that we know we're supposed to be.”
Pennsylvania gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano is scheduled to do a campaign event with far-right commentator Jack Posobiec this weekend. Posobiec is a conspiracy theorist who has collaborated with white nationalists and neo-Nazis and targeted Jewish people with antisemitic hate.
Mastriano is a QAnon conspiracy theorist and a January 6 insurrectionist. He has also shared toxic commentaries about Muslims; abortion; and gun safety; along with making other inflammatory remarks.
He has surrounded himself with numerous extremist media figures in his campaign for Pennsylvania governor. They include: antisemitic Gab CEO Andrew Torba; QAnon and antisemitic conspiracy theorists Allen and Francine Fosdick; “prophet” Julie Green, who has promoted an antisemitic conspiracy theory; and QAnon supporter and 9/11 conspiracy theorist Toni Shuppe. Mastriano also recruited Jenna Ellis, who has a history of anti-LGBTQ remarks and election denialism, as a senior adviser.
Mastriano’s ties to antisemitism were heavily scrutinized when it was revealed that he paid Gab -- a social media haven for white nationalists and antisemites -- for campaign “consulting.” In a newly filed campaign report, he disclosed that he accepted a $500 donation from Torba, who has said that “we don't want people who are Jewish” in his movement.
Mastriano is holding an event with Posobiec on October 1 in Warminster, Pennsylvania. The event is the latest example of an alliance he appears to be forging with Posobiec:
- Mastriano has frequently shared Posobiec’s posts on Facebook, including posts that promote Mastriano.
- Mastriano has frequently tweeted at Posobiec, including sharing a selfie of the two of them and writing to him in December 2020: “It was great to meet you my friend.”
- Posobiec interviewed Mastriano on July 20 while guest hosting Steve Bannon’s War Room program. During the interview, Posobiec thanked Mastriano for running and promoted Mastriano to tell viewers how to support his campaign.
Several media outlets have accurately noted Posobiec’s history of extremism when writing about him. For instance:
- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution wrote that he’s “a TV pundit associated with white supremacy and Nazism. … Jewish groups and media observers pointed out that Posobiec promotes conspiracy theories and once associated with white supremacists.”
- The Guardian described him as “a far-right US blogger who has used antisemitic symbols and promoted the fabricated ‘Pizzagate’ conspiracy theory smearing prominent Democrats as pedophiles.”
- CNN has written that Posobiec is “a far-right agitator who is known for spreading conspiracies and disinformation” and “has repeatedly posted anti-Semitic memes and associated with White supremacists and neo-Nazis.”
Here is a brief history of Posobiec’s extremism:
Southern Poverty Law Center: Posobiec has “collaborated with white nationalists, antigovernment extremists, members of the Proud Boys, and neo-Nazis.” His collaborators include individuals who were “reportedly connected online” to the alleged Pittsburgh synagogue shooter. The SPLC has extensively documented Posobiec’s ties to members of white nationalist and racist movements, including neo-Nazis. The organization wrote:
Posobiec has worked with a global network of extreme far-right and pro-authoritarian figures in his activism. He printed his second book through a publishing house where white supremacist Theodore Beale, known by the pen name Vox Day, serves as lead editor. In May 2017, Posobiec and the neo-Nazi Andrew “Weev” Auernheimer amplified the Russian military intelligence-backed “#MacronLeaks” operation, a so-called hack-and-leak effort to boost the campaign of far-right, anti-immigrant French politician Marine Le Pen. Around the same time, Posobiec collaborated on content for the online publication Rebel News at least twice with Jeffrey and Edward Clark, brothers who were active in online Neo-Nazi circles. The Clark brothers were reportedly connected online to Robert Bowers, who is now facing federal charges in connection with the massacre of 11 people in 2018 at a synagogue in Pittsburgh. Posobiec has appeared at events with such white nationalists as Richard Spencer and Scott Greer. He has appeared multiple times as a guest on the antigovernment conspiracy website Infowars. He has posed for smiling photos with leaders of the neofascist Proud Boys. Posobiec has targeted Jewish reporters with antisemitic hate and collaborated with, and marched alongside, Polish far-right extremists in Warsaw.
SPLC: “Posobiec used Twitter to target Jewish journalists with antisemitic hate. His targets included CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer, whose Polish family survived the Holocaust during World War II.” From the SPLC:
Posobiec used Twitter to target Jewish journalists with antisemitic hate. His targets included CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer, whose Polish family survived the Holocaust during World War II. Posobiec also targeted a group of journalists reporting on a press conference hosted by Peter Thiel. Three Jewish rights groups – the Anti-Defamation League, the Simon Wiesenthal Center and Bend the Arc: Jewish Action – described Posobiec’s behavior as antisemitic or condemned OANN’s relationship to him after Hatewatch reached out for comment on this investigation. The full statements of those groups as well as additional evidence of Posobiec’s antisemitic remarks can be found here.
Posobiec is a “Pizzagate” conspiracy theorist. "Pizzagate" is a conspiracy theory which falsely claims that prominent Democratic politicians have trafficked children through a Washington, D.C.-based restaurant. Posobiec has been a promoter of the conspiracy theory and once visited the D.C. restaurant before he was asked to leave.
Posobiec was behind a “Rape Melania” Trump hoax to smear anti-Trump protesters. BuzzFeed wrote in 2017:
Less than a week after the 2016 presidential election, a Trump supporter named Alan Beck tweeted two photographs of an anti-Trump protest in Washington, DC, in which a hooded figure held aloft a sign reading "Rape Melania." The images went viral, and the sign — as well as Twitter — drew swift condemnation from news outlets both right and left.
…
But, BuzzFeed News has learned, the "Rape Melania" sign was not the work of an anti-Trump protester at all. Instead, according to sources, it was the brainchild of a group of Trump supporters led by Jack Posobiec, one of the organizers of the controversial DeploraBall inauguration party and a prominent figure in the pro-Trump internet.
Furthermore, as shown by a series of Posobiec's text messages obtained by BuzzFeed News and confirmed by a source who collaborated with Posobiec, the sign was the culmination of a disinformation campaign by Posobiec and others intended to paint the anti-Trump rallies as violent and out of control.
For more on Posobiec’s extremism, read the SPLC’s investigation.