In this Times Leader file photo, then-U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta offers remarks as President Donald Trump listens during a rally in 2018 at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza when Barletta was running for the U.S. Senate.
                                 Times Leader file photo

Sources: Trump has not endorsed anyone in Pa. governor race

WILKES-BARRE — Former President Donald Trump has not endorsed any candidate in the race for Pennsylvania governor.

That comes from two Trump insiders and it contradicts remarks in an Associated Press story which reported that State Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-Franklin, said he met with Trump on Monday for “an hour and fifteen minutes” at Trump Tower in New York and, among other things, discussed the governor’s race and the candidates.

“He had asked me to run some months ago,” Mastriano said during a sit-down interview in the studio of WEEO-FM in Chambersburg, the AP reported. “He said, ‘Doug, run and I’ll campaign for you.’”

Jason Miller, senior adviser to former President Donald Trump, told the Times Leader on Thursday that“President Trump has not made any endorsements or commitments yet in this race.”

Another Trump aide, who requested anonymity, said, “Mr. Mastriano recently came up to see President Trump at Trump Tower and asked for the President’s support, but there has not been an endorsement. President Trump will likely, at some point in the future, support a candidate, as President Trump’s endorsement is the most powerful in politics and everybody is asking for it.”

Former U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta of Hazleton also questioned the “endorsement,” noting that Mastriano made the statement a day after Barletta declared his candidacy for the Republican nomination for governor.

“Everybody knows that President Trump speaks for himself,” Barletta said. “If he decides to weigh into this race, it will be unmistaken who he supports. It won’t come from us, the candidates — he will make the announcement on who he supports.”

Barletta added, “I’ve had many conversations with President Trump over the years and I have always kept those conversations between the two of us. President Trump doesn’t like when people put words in his mouth or exaggerate.”

The AP story said Mastriano said he talked of possibly running for governor of Pennsylvania in 2022 and that Trump asked him to run and promised to campaign for him.

The story went on to say that “Mastriano, first elected two years ago, has talked of speaking with Trump at least 15 times.”

Barletta, 65, is a former mayor of Hazleton and he served four terms in Congress. He also served as Trump’s campaign co-chair — with former U.S. Rep. Tom Marino of Lycoming County — in Pennsylvania in the 2016 presidential campaign and on Trump’s transition team before becoming one of the former president’s biggest allies on Capitol Hill.

At Trump’s urging, Barletta ran for U.S. Senate in 2018, losing to incumbent Democrat U.S. Sen. Bob Casey of Scranton. Trump visited Pennsylvania twice to campaign for Barletta.

Attempts to reach Mastriano for comment were unsuccessful

Mastriano, 57, represents Senatorial District 33, serving Adams, Cumberland (part), Franklin (part) and York (part) counties. His term expires in 2024.

On Tuesday, after voting in the primary, Barletta embarked on a statewide tour of Pennsylvania following his announcement the previous day that he is seeking the Republican nomination to run for governor.