During Doug Mastriano interview, Wendy Bell falsely claims Democrats are already “cheating” through early voting

Written by Eric Hananoki

Published

During an interview with Doug Mastriano, radio host and campaign speaker Wendy Bell told the Pennsylvania gubernatorial nominee that Democrats are already “cheating” because they “lead in the early voting.” Mastriano responded by claiming that early voting is “just asking for trouble” and “there are a lot of questions” with Pennsylvania elections. 

Bell is a right-wing commentator who also has a weekend program for Newsmax. In 2016, she was fired from a radio station after she wrote a racist Facebook post following a shooting, stating: “You needn’t be a criminal profiler to draw a mental sketch of the killers who broke so many hearts two weeks ago Wednesday … They are young black men, likely teens or in their early 20s. They have multiple siblings from multiple fathers and their mothers work multiple jobs.” In 2020, she was taken off the air after she called on park rangers to “shoot on sight” protesters at Mount Rushmore. 

Like Mastriano, Bell is an election denier who attempted to rally her followers to “contest Pennsylvania's fraudulent election results.” She is a supporter of Mastriano’s campaign: In addition to promoting him on her program, she has filmed an endorsement video and has campaigned on the trail for him. 

Mastriano is a right-wing commentator and state senator who has frequently promoted toxic remarks and conspiracy theories, including about QAnon, Muslims, and abortion. He has surrounded himself with numerous far-right media personalities, including “Pizzagate” conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec; antisemitic Gab CEO Andrew Torba; “prophet” Julie Green; and Jenna Ellis, who recently questioned Mastriano opponent Josh Shapiro’s Jewish faith. 

Bell hosted Mastriano during her program yesterday, where she baselessly claimed that the “left” is already “cheating” because “Democrats lead in the early voting.” Pennsylvania allows for early voting.   

Mastriano responded by criticizing early voting and stating, in part: “You're just asking for trouble,” and said, “We need to look at the entire kit and caboodle, how elections are done in Pennsylvania, because there are a lot of questions.” 

From the October 24, 2022, edition of Wendy Bell Radio

WENDY BELL (host): Yeah, and this is what scares me. Newsmax I just saw, alert came off on my phone saying that Democrats lead in the early voting. We've got to put an end to this crap. It's got to be Election Day, not election months, not election weeks. It's got to be Election Day. And I think anybody with a functioning brain cell knows that if it's beyond Election Day, it's called cheating for the left period. 

DOUG MASTRIANO: Yeah. I don't know how it's gone from, you know, Election Day, to -- and then it was a couple of weeks at it. Now it's like five or six weeks. You're just asking for trouble. I mean, does it really need to be so long? I mean, my focus is going to be obviously on election integrity of the top three issues that we’re going to face. Obviously crime, our economy and then election integrity. We're going to start off with voter ID. In the General Assembly, we've already begun that process here. So there'll be a referendum next May for the people to sign on that. Then we need to look at the entire kit and caboodle, how elections are done in Pennsylvania, because there are a lot of questions. You know, it's kind of funny, the radical left-wing media will call people like me election deniers simply for exercising my constitutional oversight as a senator, in a manner and conduct of elections. And that's my job. When people ask questions, I ask questions. But of course, I don't think Hillary Clinton ever conceded 2016. I think she's still running back around talking about Russian collusion. And what about Stacey Abrams, who said four years ago the election was stolen from her in Georgia? So it's okay for one side to ask questions and not be ridiculed and mocked but when our side asks. And so, you know, I'm getting tired of [inaudible]. We're going to get to the bottom of what happened here. And we're going to make corrections. And the same constitution I fought to defend overseas we’re going to defend over here in Pennsylvania. 

Mastriano’s appearance on Bell’s program is another example of how he has avoided credible media outlets, instead turning to friendly venues.