Wagner To Gov. Wolf: 'I'm Gonna Stomp All Over Your Face With Golf Spikes'
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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – A billboard in York County accusing Scott Wagner, the owner of a waste hauling company, of suing nearly 7,000 of his customers unleashed a torrent of angry words by the Republican candidate for Pennsylvania governor.
"Hey Gov. Wolf, did you ever have a customer not pay you when you were such a sharp business guy? You know, Gov. Wolf, the people of Pennsylvania are tired of your lies," said Wagner, Wolf's challenger.
In a nearly three-minute Facebook video posted by Wagner, the gubernatorial candidate got a little personal about Wolf.
"I thought you were smarter. You're really not very smart," he said.
But it was this outburst that is getting the most attention:
"Between now and Nov. 6, you better put a catcher's mask on your face because I'm going to stomp all over your face with golf spikes because I'm going to win this for the state of Pennsylvania and we're throwing you out of office," Wagner said in the video, which has not been taken down from social media.
Wagner has since released a second video statement through his YouTube page. In it he says: "I may have chosen a poor metaphor. I may have had a poor choice of words. I shouldn't have said what I said."
Wolf's campaign spokesperson, Beth Melena, reacted with these words: "I want to know if Wagner is channeling John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, or Rambo in his latest unhinged rant."
Even the third-ranking Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives, House majority whip Congressman Steve Scalise, tweeted, "These comments are totally unacceptable. As I've said many times before, there is absolutely no place in our politics for this kind of rhetoric."
These comments are totally unacceptable. As I've said many times before, there is absolutely no place in our politics for this kind of rhetoric. https://t.co/7GgDITKGM9
— Rep. Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) October 12, 2018
The Wagner campaign through Communications Director Andrew Romeo quickly issued this clarification:
"Scott's comments were not to be taken literally. He wanted them to be a metaphor for how he will approach the final stretch of the campaign. Tom Wolf has spent the entire race hiding behind false and negative attack ads like a coward instead of debating in front of the people of Pennsylvania and Scott will spend the last month of the race making it clear to voters why they should not give him a second term."
The general election will be held on Nov. 6.
