Bill McSwain is getting national attention, and it isn’t for helping Pennsylvanians. It’s for his dedication to Donald Trump’s election conspiracies.
PENNSYLVANIA — Donald Trump’s election lies have already become a litmus test for the Republican gubernatorial candidates, and in his first week on the campaign, Bill McSwain has boosted the Big Lie. In a new report, the Daily Beast highlights that in Johnstown last week, McSwain would not say whether “the 2020 presidential election was conducted freely and fairly in Pennsylvania.”
As the report points out, “it was not the first time McSwain […] has ducked a question on the validity of the 2020 election.” In fact, he has dodged similar questions at least four times in the first week of his campaign, and “has previously fed conspiracy theories about Biden’s victory.”
Since his sloppy launch last Monday, McSwain has been asked whether he believes Joe Biden is the legitimately elected president by NBC 10, KDKA, the Johnstown Tribune-Democrat, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and now the Daily Beast. Two legal, bipartisan audits have confirmed Joe Biden’s legitimate victory in Pennsylvania — and as the top federal prosecutor in Philadelphia, McSwain did not prosecute a single 2020 voter fraud case.
“Pennsylvanians are facing real challenges, but Republicans like Bill McSwain are more focused on far-right conspiracy theories in an effort to earn the support of Donald Trump himself,” said Pennsylvania Democratic Party spokesperson Marisa Nahem. “While McSwain continues to dodge questions from the media, Pennsylvanians can see through his charade to the ugly truth: Bill McSwain will say and do anything to promote himself and prove his loyalty to Donald Trump.”
Check out the Daily Beast article highlighting Pennsylvania’s own PA Apprentice contestant below:
Daily Beast: These Republican Candidates for Governor Are Boosting Trump’s Election Lie
By Kelly Weill, 09/22/21
Ahead of a speech in an Italian restaurant last week, Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill McSwain fielded a yes-or-no question. Did he believe the 2020 presidential election was conducted freely and fairly in Pennsylvania?
He did not answer either Yes or No.
“Well, Joe Biden is our president, unfortunately,” McSwain said, according to Jonestown, Pennsylvania’s Tribune-Democrat.
It was not the first time McSwain, a former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, has ducked a question on the validity of the 2020 election. Nor is he alone among his class of aspiring governors. Across the country, Republican gubernatorial campaigns are haunted by the 2020 election, which remains a sore point among the GOP base. According to a recent CNN survey, nearly one in six Republicans believes it important that members of their party support Donald Trump’s (false) claims of having won the 2020 election.
That new party line has aspiring Republican governors in blue states walking a narrow path, casting doubt on President Joe Biden’s victory, even if they won’t outright allege fraud.
McSwain has previously fed conspiracy theories about Biden’s victory, sometimes even conflicting with former Trump associates. In June, McSwain wrote a letter to Trump, claiming to have “received various allegations of voter fraud and election irregularities” in Pennsylvania, where Biden’s victory has been verified. McSwain appeared to accuse former Trump Attorney General Bill Barr of blocking investigations. Barr, in turn, told the Washington Post that McSwain’s allegations were false, and accused McSwain of trying to win a Trump endorsement in his bid for governor.
When the Philadelphia Inquirer asked McSwain three times whether the 2020 presidential election was legitimate, McSwain declined to answer. “I’m not going to discuss those kinds of issues,” he told the Inquirer. “That’s not what I have any comment on at this point.” (McSwain’s campaign did not immediately return a request for comment.)
Non-answers like McSwain’s are becoming boilerplate for some Republican candidates. In Nevada, Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo has peppered his gubernatorial campaign with doubts about the 2020 election.
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