Pennsylvania GOP candidate Doug Mastriano prayed for MAGA to ‘seize the power’ on January 6

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Pennsylvania’s Republican nominee for governor Doug Mastriano reportedly led a prayer for former president Donald Trump to “seize the power” a week before the January 6 riot, Rolling Stone reported. “I pray for the leaders also in the federal government, God, on the Sixth of January that they will rise up with boldness.” On the call, Mr Mastriano held up letters he sent to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Mitch McConnell and prayed for Congress to “disregard” certified election results. The movement believes that the US government should operate according to Christian biblical principles, since Mr Garlow says “He knows best how government is to function.” Mr Mastriano was one of the biggest promoters of election conspiracy theories in Pennsylvania after the 2020 presidential election. He paid for buses to go to Washington on 6 January of last year and reportedly crossed the police barricades, though he said he “respected all police lines as I came upon them.” That earned him the endorsement of Mr Trump in the gubernatorial primary, which Mr Mastriano won easily in May.