Sen. Scarnati Speaks Out Against Ayers Appearance At Penn State
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Dom Giordano spoke with Pennsylvania State Senator Joe Scarnati on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT about his opposition to Bill Ayers speaking to two student organizations at Penn State University.
Scarnati, from Pennsylvania's 25th Senatorial District, was quick to rebut criticism that he was only opposing the appearance from Ayers, co-founder of the 1970's radical group, The Weather Underground, to gain press coverage for himself.
"It's an overwhelming response into my office with people supporting me, actually calling out Bill Ayers and Penn State in this speaking engagement that he's doing. Some people like to say, 'You do this for grandstanding. You guys do this because you want to get credit for something.' I'm not running for anything. I like to think that leaders should stand up sometimes, even when it's an uncomfortable thing to do, and speak out. That's what I'm doing. It's no place for tax payer dollars."
He believes Ayers' past ties to the domestic terrorist organization make him unfit to be invited to a state university.
"This guy, Bill Ayers, he isn't sorry. He isn't apologetic. By any of these statements, you know, if even I saw some glimmer of that, I might feel just a tad bit different but here's a guy that was a co-founder, this wasn't just a member, co-founder of the Weather Underground. He was a fugitive. He made statements, to the effect that, wishing he would've done more bombings."
Scarnati also took the time to blame the school's administration and Governor Wolf for not intervening to stop Ayer's visit.
"I'm curious to see what the official response from the President is going to be. Quite frankly, they should just revoke the invitation and do the right thing. Doing the right thing isn't easy all the time, but sometimes you have to do the right thing. I question, where's our Governor? I haven't heard anything from our Governor."
