Did Gov. Shapiro Fund A Liberal Social Media Takeover With Public Money?

This information was revealed through documents obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation via a records request.

According to the documents, Shapiro directed the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to allocate funds for a day-long "Democracy Summer Camp" held on July 25. The event aimed to educate individuals with substantial social media followings on how to encourage their audiences to vote and how to identify "misinformation" online. The list of 43 influencers invited to the publicly-funded training revealed a clear bias, with none favoring Republicans and approximately 70% having an overtly liberal social media presence.

The remaining influencers, while not explicitly political, hailed from demographics that predominantly favor the Democratic Party. As reported by WND, Shapiro rallied the largely liberal crowd, stating, We all need to get off the sidelines, get in the game, and fight for what we believe in. Stand up strong and proud for the values we hold dear.

The influencers were provided with information on voting laws by Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt. Following this, Gavin Lichtenstein, the governor's director of digital partnerships, emphasized the influencers' role in providing their followers with information on voting deadlines and drop boxes.

October 05, 2024

Pennsylvania State Rep. Seth Grove criticized the event, stating, Having the governors office use taxpayer funds to only have Democrat social media influencers is very, very sketchy and was a waste of taxpayer dollars. That was a cost to the taxpayers to do campaign work. I dont believe for a second they had any interest in inviting Republicans it was lopsided and targeted to Democratic influencers.

One of the influencers present at the event, Maggie McGregor, is the daughter of Democratic National Committee treasurer Virginia McGregor. Echoing Shapiro's language, she told her followers, The election in the United States of America is about eight weeks from today and I am not sitting on the sidelines. As you can see, I am endorsing Kamala Harris.

Among the attendees were several liberal influencers with substantial followings, including Philadelphia-based comedian Alex Pearlman, who has approximately 3 million followers across various platforms and frequently posts videos criticizing Republicans. Pearlman has also encouraged his followers to ensure their voter registrations are up to date.

Aaron Parnas, a pro-Ukraine influencer with over 800,000 followers, was also invited by the Pennsylvania governor's office. Parnas has previously worked for the Miami-Dade County Democratic Party. Ethan Kelly, another influencer invited by Shapiro, regularly expresses his support for the Democratic Party to his roughly 650,000 followers.

Grove expressed concerns about the event in July, stating, You got a Democrat administration who is angling to be high ranking in the Democratic Party, looking to be VP, asking national content creators to come to Pennsylvania and they give them what they think should be misinformation, disinformation and honest discussions about elections. There should be a huge level of transparency around this, this is how misinformation begins.

The Democracy Summer Camp, which ran from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on July 25, cost the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania approximately $4,000, not including salaries paid to state workers to plan and administer the event. Grove suggested that Governor Shapiro's campaign should reimburse the citizens of the Commonwealth for this event, stating, They know they were in the wrong, they knew they were using taxpayer funds to do an event solely for Democrats.

The Pennsylvania governors office has yet to respond to the DCNFs request for comment. This incident raises questions about the appropriate use of taxpayer funds and the potential for political bias in public initiatives. It also underscores the growing influence of social media in shaping political discourse and mobilizing voters.