MAGA World Melts Down as ‘Ultra-MAGA’ Barnette Blows Up in Pennsylvania

thedailybeast.com/maga-word-melts-down-as-ultra-maga-kathy-barnette-blows-up-in-pennsylvania

May 12, 2022

Elections

PEAK MAGA

“I think I see it as a badge of honor. They’re actually paying attention to me,” Senate candidate Kathy Barnette said.

HANNAH BEIER

The two main contenders for the Republican nomination in Pennsylvania took a short break from savaging each other this week to train their collective fire on an unexpected rival who is experiencing a surge in popularity in the eleventh hour of the high-profile contest.

In fact, on Wednesday afternoon, it seemed like anyone with a Fox News show or a follower count in the six-digits on MAGA Twitter is speaking with the same voice: if Kathy Barnette wins the primary Tuesday, she is going to lose the Senate seat to a Democrat.

But for Barnette—a previously little-known author whose only other political credit is a landslide congressional defeat in 2020—all the attacks just showed that leading candidates David McCormick and Mehmet Oz think of her as a threat.

“I think I see it as a badge of honor,” Barnette said. “They’re actually paying attention to me.”

McCormick and Trump-endorsed Oz weren’t the only ones startled by Barnette’s sudden rise.

Sean Hannity took time on his show to slam her attacks on Muslims, including her claim that Barack Obama is a Muslim.

Newsmax’s Greg Kelly called her a “race card playing scammer.” Former Trump acting intelligence director Ric Grenell called her “unfit for office,” highlighting a 2015 tweet in which Barnette said “pedophilia is a cornerstone of Islam.” Pro-Trump accounts have circulated a misleadingly edited video meant to portray Barnette, who is Black, as a radical Black Lives Matter supporter.