Doug Mastriano says post calling Star Wars spaceship a drone was meant to be humorous

Republican State Sen. Doug Mastriano said he shared a meme when he posted a screenshot to X Monday of a Star Wars prop and criticized the Biden administration for not taking action related to unidentified drones spotted in the region in recent weeks.

The former Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate received widespread mockery when he shared the image of an imperial TIE Fighter on the back of a flatbed truck with a caption purporting it to be a recovered drone, but he said Tuesday that those questioning the post lacked a sense of humor.

“It is inconceivable that the federal government has no answers nor has taken any action to get to the bottom of the unidentified drones,” Mastriano said in the post.

“The fecklessness of this administration was on display last year when a Chinese surveillance balloon was allowed to fly over the entire continental United States before being shot down,” he said. “Such should be viewed as a threat to our nation and citizens and action is long overdue. We have recourses and assets in our arsenal to get answers, but I suppose Ukraine is more important to the White House.”

Mastriano’s post resulted in a community note on X clarifying that the image was a replica of a spaceship from Star Wars and other users responded with a barrage of references to the film franchise.

“I’m pretty sure Red Leader Garven Dreis shot down that TIE fighter in ep IV A New Hope,” said CNN anchor Jake Tapper, who grew up in Philadelphia.

Despite the seriousness of his message about drones, Mastriano maintained he was aware that the image was a prop when contacted by The Inquirer Tuesday. He criticized the reporter for posing the question in a series of text messages and social media posts.

“You guys on the extreme left totally need a sense of humor,” Mastriano said in a text message. “No kidding it’s a Star Wars prop.”