Bill McSweeney, who spent nearly three years as Trump’s federal attorney general in Philadelphia, was seeking Trump’s approval.  McSwain called the Pennsylvania presidential election “partisan shame” as he tried to win the former president’s favor and was often touted for his links to Trump as he campaigned for the GOP nod in a busy municipal area.
Instead, Trump turned against him.
“One person in Pennsylvania I will not support is Bill McSwain as governor. He was the US attorney who did absolutely nothing about the massive electoral fraud in Philadelphia and throughout the Commonwealth,” Trump said in a statement.  “Do not vote for Bill McSwain, a coward who disappointed our country. He knew what was happening and let it go.”
Trump’s false allegations of stolen elections have been debunked by the courts, his own Department of Justice, and numerous reshuffles, and no Pennsylvania prosecutor, judge, or election official has expressed concern about widespread Democratic fraud in the aftermath. in 2020.
McSwain, in a statement issued by his campaign, did not address Trump directly, but said: “I am proud of my record as US Attorney.”
“I have prosecuted and put behind bars the people who committed vote-rigging and put rioters and looters in prison. When I am governor, we will return to an electoral system in which everyone has confidence,” he said.
Trump’s disapproval of McSwain led to a change of heart for another Republican nominee, Jake Corman.
Corman, the state’s top senator, asked his lawyers to ask the state’s Commonwealth Court on Tuesday afternoon to withdraw his candidacy and remove his name from the May 17 qualifying vote – and only then three hours later, he changed his mind and decided to continue his campaign.
“Two developments today led me to decide to stay in the race for governor: President Trump’s statement about the race and my direct conversation with the president.  “It encouraged me to keep fighting, and I will do it – keep fighting for the people of Pennsylvania,” said Corman, whose campaign has struggled to gain traction.
Corman, who represents an area of ​​central Pennsylvania that surrounds Penn State’s main campus, is the interim Senate president and has served in the House since 1999 after taking over from his father.
In addition to McSwain and Corman, other GOP candidates include former GOP MP Lou Barletta, best known for his tough line on immigration.  State Senator Doug Mastriano, a Trump supporter who pushed for a reversal in the 2020 election and appeared outside the US Capitol during the Jan. 6 uprising.  and Dave White, who runs a large plumbing and HVAC company and is a former Delaware County consultant.
The nine-person field has some state GOP officials worried that a badly divided primary constituency will select a candidate who cannot defeat alleged Democratic nominee Josh Sapiro, the state attorney general.
Last summer, when McSwain sought Trump’s approval, the former prosecutor criticized the way the Pennsylvania presidential election was conducted, but claimed that Trump’s attorney general, Bill Barr, had prevented him from investigating possible irregularities.  Barr told him to send any “serious allegations” of electoral fraud to Sappiro’s office, McSwain said in a letter asking for Trump’s authority.
Barr challenged McSwain’s account, saying the order came from a top deputy and not from him.  He told The Philadelphia Inquirer that McSwain had never been told to “give up” on the investigation.
“McSwain” told me he had to do this because he was under pressure from Trump and to have a viable candidacy he could not make Trump attack him, “Barr told the newspaper last year.  Thus, McSwain “tried to pass the needle” by saying “things that were technically true” without giving “support to Trump’s stolen campaign narrative,” Barr said.
Trump, who has backed renowned surgeon and former television presenter Mehmet Oz in the Pennsylvania Republican Senate primary, has not yet backed the governor’s race.
Democrats were happy about Trump’s attack on McSwain.  “Sorry Bill. You were fired,” said Sam Newton, a spokesman for the Union of Democratic Governors, in a statement.
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Rubinkam reported from northeastern Pennsylvania.