Controversy surrounding Senate candidate Kathy Barnette continues to surface as we near Pennsylvania’s Republican primary election. After tweets surfaced clearly depicting how homophobic and Islamophobic she is, the candidate’s most recent controversy has arrived in the form of photos of her participating in a march before the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. In the photos, Barnette is depicted with the white nationalist group, the Proud Boys.
Prior to the photos being confirmed by NBC News on May 16, no evidence indicated Barnette attended the insurrection outside of speculation. Barnette admitted hosting multiple rallies for the “Stop the Steal” movement and organizing buses to attend a rally before the failed Capitol coup, but had never spoken about attending it herself. The newly released photos reveal not only that she attended but that she also marched alongside a member of the racist group who was later indicted for breaking into the building and attacking officers.
Both the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center have noted that the Proud Boys group is violent and hateful, with "anti-Muslim and misogynistic rhetoric.”
At this time, no evidence indicates Barnette breached the Capitol or engaged in violent activities.
Local reports indicate that the photos were first found by extremism reporter Chad Loder on Sunday. In an interview with NBC News’ Dasha Burns, Barnette tried to downplay her presence by suggesting that the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection wasn’t that bad of an incident. “I feel about Jan. 6 the way the left feels about the summer of 2020 when you have Black Lives Matter and Antifa and other groups out there looting and robbing, and everyone was calling it mostly peaceful protests.”
We all know the reality of Jan. 6 and how violent it really was. Of course, Barnette’s campaign knows this—and thus tried to distance her from the Proud Boys. The campaign attempted the same tactic earlier this year when her racist tweets went viral.
"Kathy was in D.C. to support President Trump and demand election accountability," Barnette's campaign said in a statement to NBC News. "Any assertion that she participated in or supported the destruction of property is intentionally false. She has no connection whatsoever to the Proud Boys."
But Barnette is not the only political candidate in Pennsylvania to attend both the "Stop the Steal” rally and Jan. 6 events. Sen. Doug Mastriano, the frontrunner in the Republican Party's gubernatorial race, also attended both events. Barnette and Mastriano have been running as an unofficial ticket in the Republican primaries.
According to The Washington Post, more than 30 people who are running for office this November attended the rally. While some have openly admitted it, others were found to have attended through social media posts and other leaked photos.
Given the support Barnette is receiving, it will be no surprise if these photos actually work in her favor. Despite sharing blatantly racist, homophobic, and conspiracy-filled tweets and statements, Barnette is quickly making her way to the top.
According to a RealClearPolitics average of the GOP Senate primary in Pennsylvania, Barnette is in second place behind Mehmet Oz, a Trump-endorsed candidate. Republicans worry that if Barnette were to win the primary, the GOP would lose the general election—and as a result, lose a seat in the U.S. Senate.
