Frank Scavo, the Republican nominee to represent Pennsylvania’s 114th district in the state’s House of Representatives, shared conspiracy theorist content about “Pizzagate” on Facebook. He’s also expressed support for Infowars founder Alex Jones.
Pizzagate, you'll recall, is the conspiracy theory that accused prominent Democrats of conducting a child-trafficking ring out of a Washington, D.C., pizzeria, and led a North Carolina man to shoot bullets through the door of the establishment while families dined inside.
Scavo’s posts were first unearthed by Future Now Director of Research Aaron Kleinman and further reported by Stephen Caruso, a reporter at the Pennsylvania Capital-Star. (Disclosure: Future Now Fund is raising money to support Scavo’s Democratic opponent, Bridget Kosierowski.)
In a September 17, 2018, Facebook post, Scavo shared an image of conspiracy theorist “reporter” Jenny Moore and promised to expose child trafficking should he be elected to office on a scale “bigger than that of the Catholic Church.” Moore was a propagator of the “Pizzagate” conspiracy theory and went so far as to travel to film the restaurant. In August, Moore died in a hotel room in circumstances deemed not suspicious by the Prince George's County Police Department, prompting Moore's conspiracy theorist associates and followers to suggest that the Clintons may have ordered her execution because she came too close to the truth.
Scavo’s affinity for the right-wing fringe doesn’t stop there.
In August, Scavo shared a petition urging the reversal of Jones’ and Infowars’ bans from social media platforms such as Spotify and YouTube, among others. He signed the petition himself, which was created by small-scale conspiracy theorist YouTuber Jack Belgarde, who spread white nationalist conspiracy theories and alleged that varied celebrities have connections to pedophilia.
Scavo claimed to have donated $80 to an obvious scam promising Trump supporters that they could crowd-fund Trump’s promised U.S.-Mexico border wall. His Facebook profile displays that he follows pro-Trump duo “Diamond & Silk”, failed California candidate Omar Navarro, alt-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos, the anti-Muslim hate group The United West, and anti-Muslim activist Laura Loomer.
On his campaign website, Scavo has shared photos of himself alongside Fox News pundits Pete Hegseth and Anthony Shaffer. Scavo describes himself a “pro-life” and “pro-family,” and likened Trump Tower in New York City to the holy city Mecca.
On March 12, Scavo will be up for election in a special election to fill the seat previously held by Rep. Sid Michaels Kavulich, who died last year.