Trump appoints controversial PA election denier to ambassadorship

State Senator and former GOP gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano (R-Franklin) has been nominated by President Donald Trump to serve as the U.S. ambassador to Slovakia.

Mastriano said in a post on the social media site X that he will continue to serve in the Pennsylvania Senate until a U.S. Senate confirmation hearing.

“I am deeply honored and humbled by President Trump’s nomination to serve as United States Ambassador to the Slovak Republic,” Mastriano wrote. “Upon Senate confirmation, I look forward to representing our nation abroad, strengthening the friendship between our two countries, and advancing the interests of the American people.”

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Mastriano was a vocal supporter of Trump’s debunked claims that the 2020 election was stolen. On top of repeating false claims about the outcome (the election was won by Democrat Joe Biden), Mastriano unsuccessfully pushed the Pennsylvania legislature to overturn the popular vote in the commonwealth, hosted Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani at a partisan state Senate Committee hearing in Gettysburg weeks after the 2020 election, attended the Jan. 6 rally that led to a violent riot at the U.S. Capitol and spent campaign money bussing supporters to Washington, D.C. that day as well.

He was later subpoenaed by the U.S. House Jan. 6 Committee, ultimately agreeing to a voluntary interview, and questioned by the Federal Bureau of Investigations in connection with his activities around the 2020 election. Video of the event appeared to show him past police lines with a crowd on the east side of the building, though Mastriano later said he “respected all police lines as I came upon them … police lines did shift throughout the course of the day.”

He was never charged with a related crime.

Mastriano was the Republican candidate for governor in 2022, but lost to Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro by nearly 15 points.

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Mastriano teased the possibility of another run in 2026, but after the Pennsylvania Republican Party and key GOP officials endorsed state Treasurer Stacy Garrity months ahead of the primary, Mastriano announced he would not seek the office again this year.

That didn’t stop some of his ardent supporters from mounting a long-shot write-in campaign. The effort’s organizer told Lancaster Online the goal is, in part, to send a message of disapproval to the state GOP over their early endorsement of Garrity. The group’s website claims they have the support of Mastriano himself.

Neither a spokesperson for Mastriano nor Ernie Springer, the organizer of the Mastriano write-in campaign, immediately responded to requests for comment.

Mastriano’s nomination will require U.S. Senate confirmation.

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