Pennsylvania governor candidate sports Confederate military uniform in Army War College photo

A Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate posed for a photo wearing a Confederate military uniform in a 2013-14 faculty photo at the Army War College.

The image features Republican state Sen. Doug Mastriano, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump earlier this year. Reuters reported Friday that it was released by the Army War College after a request under the Freedom of Information Act.

People familiar with the photo told Reuters that faculty at the time were encouraged to dress up as historical figures for the photo, which has since been removed from the college’s campus in Carlisle.

“The faculty photo did not get the team’s attention; the photo has since been removed because it does not meet AWC values,” the college said in a statement

Symbols of the confederacy, including flags, statues and the military uniforms, have long divided the nation. They are often associated with the nation’s war to uphold slavery, and in turn, racism.

Jenna Ellis, a senior legal adviser to Mastriano’s campaign, took to Twitter to poke fun at the backlash sparked by the photo. The tweet was later retweeted by Mastriano, who has not otherwise commented.

“Media MELT DOWN that Mastriano apparently once posed as a civil war historical figure for a photo,” she wrote. “And? He has a Ph.D in HISTORY. The left wants to erase history. Doug Mastriano wants us to learn from it.”

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, Mastriano’s rival in the governor race, slammed the photo and its implications.

“Doug Mastriano wore the uniform of traitors who fought to defend slavery on official grounds of the U.S. Army War College,” he said.

Mastriano, who served in the Army for 30 years, earned a doctorate in history, taught at the Army War College and published a book on a famous World War I Army soldier, Alvin York. In May, the he beat out nine other candidates to earn the Republican nomination for governor.

He currently serves Pennsylvania’s 33rd district, which includes Gettysburg, where one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War was fought.