Mastriano defended wearing a Confederate uniform as Shapiro called him ‘unfit’ to be Pa. governor

State Sen. Doug Mastriano said this week that criticism of his appearance in a photograph while wearing a Civil War Confederate Army uniform is proof Democrats “have nothing else to run on” as they try to stop the Republican from becoming Pennsylvania governor.

Meanwhile, Josh Shapiro, the state attorney general and Democratic nominee, said Wednesday that the photograph is more proof Mastriano is “unfit” to be governor.

Mastriano, who appeared in the 2013 Army War College faculty photograph that was disclosed last week, touted his academic degrees in history during a Tuesday evening interview on the far-right outlet One America News.

» READ MORE: Mastriano wore a Confederate Army uniform in an Army War College faculty photo

“I think it’s important to understand the past to have a better future and also to not repeat the mistakes of the past,” said Mastriano, who has not responded to numerous requests for comment from The Inquirer.

He then offered half a history lesson, noting that “all the leaders of the Confederacy were Democrats.”

That popular conservative talking point commonly omits the rest of history: that Republicans used the so-called Southern Strategy, starting in the mid-1960s, to court voters in Southern states who feared and resented the rise of the civil rights movement.

Shapiro gathered several elected officials and faith leaders of color Wednesday for a Philadelphia news conference to “call out the dangerous extremism” in Mastriano’s campaign.

“He chose to wear the uniform of traitors, the people who went to battle to defend slavery,” Shapiro said, noting that the Army War College took down the photograph last week and issued a statement that it did not reflect the college’s values. “I’m here today with these fine leaders to say it doesn’t reflect our values either. Nor do I believe it reflects the values of the good people of Pennsylvania.”

State Rep. Austin Davis, the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, noted that Mastriano wasn’t appearing as a Civil War battle reenactor in the faculty photograph. Davis, who is Black, also noted that Mastriano’s district includes Gettysburg, the site of a bloody and decisive 1863 Civil War battle.

“He is a senator from Pennsylvania, that was on the side to abolish slavery,” Davis said. “I think it’s unacceptable for him to wear that uniform. It sends a message to every Black and brown person in this commonwealth.”

» READ MORE: More Republicans back Josh Shapiro for Pennsylvania governor

Mastriano, who won a bruising nine-candidate primary in May by a wide margin, has at times attempted to moderate his firebrand conservative tone for November’s general election. But he has a long digital and paper trail of inflammatory statements and actions that have come back to haunt his campaign.

Shapiro was unopposed in the Democratic primary.

Reuters first reported Friday on the photograph.

Mastriano served for three decades in the Army, retiring in 2017 as a colonel after serving in Europe, Iraq, and Afghanistan. He was on the war college faculty in the department of military strategy, plans, and operations in 2013 and 2014.

Most of the 19 men and two women in the faculty photograph wore contemporary military uniforms or civilian clothes. Only Mastriano wore the distinctive gray uniform of the Confederate Army, with a pouch for ammunition, while holding an 1856 Enfield rifle.

» READ MORE: At Delco bar, Doug Mastriano pledges to make Pennsylvania the ‘Florida of the north’