Slide to the left. Slide to the right.
Although education has taken center stage of the debate for Governor between incumbent Democrat Tom Wolf and GOP challenger, Scott Wagner, a couple of new issues join the party this week.
Abortion and climate change. Wagner remains firm on one, while shifting his rhetoric on the other.
Wagner has been a known skeptic of climate change for quite some time. Last year, while he was a state Senator, he expressed his uncertainty towards the topic.
“I haven’t been in a science class in a long time, but the Earth moves closer to the sun every year — you know, the rotation of the Earth. We’re moving closer to the sun,” Wagner said. “We have more people… you know, humans have warm bodies. So is heat coming off? Things are changing… but I think we are, as a society, doing the best we can.”
A few weeks ago, Wagner’s town hall meeting in Montgomery County made headlines after he was asked by college student Rose Strauss about his stance on climate change.
“Rose, you know what?” said Wagner. “I appreciate you being here and you’re 18 years old. And, you know, you’re a little young and naive.”
The Wolf campaign quickly capitalized on this response as Democrat Lt. Governor candidate Mayor John Fetterman posted a picture of the two wearing a “young and naive voter” shirt.
.@WolfForPA was nice enough to buy me a tie; I bought him an official “Young and Naive” Voter T-shirt. pic.twitter.com/4JaljQia4R
— John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) July 27, 2018
This week, Wagner and his running mate, Lt. Governor candidate Jeff Bartos, fielded questions on climate change at a town hall meeting in York.
“Listen, climate change is happening,” Wagner said. “But let’s be realistic. I don’t have an agenda to go to a complete 100 percent renewable energy program because it’s not realistic.”
In a press release, Wagner’s campaign posted the transcript and video of this exchange while simultaneously taking a shot at Wolf for not responding to a similar question from Rose Strauss as he entered an event in Delaware County.
On the topic of abortion, Wagner appears to be solidifying his support for the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Reported by PennLive this morning, a video shows Wagner being asked if he supports President Trump’s nominee, Brett Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court, and his support for overturning Roe v Wade.
“The answer to that question is that I support President Trump’s pick and whatever happens on the Supreme Court, again I can’t sit here and predict and I’m not a lawyer, but I’m 100% pro-life and I support the president’s pick,” Wagner said.
Wagner has made his pro-life stance clear, but when he was asked about the possibility of overturning Roe v Wade a couple weeks ago, he responded to WHYY’s Dave Davies with a less firm stance.
“You know, that’s a federal issue,” Wagner said to Davies. “I’m not running for president right now. I’m more focused on the problems in Pennsylvania.”
When Davies followed up to ask if an abortion ban were to reach his desk, Wagner stated, “It may, and whatever happens, happens. Right now, in this interview, I’m not committing to anything.”
10 Responses
Satellites provide the only semi-accurate tracking of global temperature. That temperature has trivially risen in the last 20 years while CO2 has soared upward 12%. Therefore, the “scientific” hypothesis of a global warming crisis is a fraud that was hatched to grab money from and power over the citizens of this nation. Scott Wagner needs to obtain some top notch science advisers on the myth of a global warming crisis to avoid the pitfalls and traps built by his opponents and their teenage children.
I politely asked her [and her two pals] after the event for her “best evidence” and, after claiming she’s studied this issue for a half-decade, she pulled from the Internet the standard claim that most-all scientists support her position…which obviously didn’t suffice…and I departed after providing another opportunity for any of them to document their claims – typical.
He sounds like an idiot.
This is the kind of candidate the Republican Party needs to be shamed for running. That said look who they put in the white house
Young Rose Strauss needs to find a better career path than professional Agitprop whiner.
You can complain about trackers and plants. They are a thing and yeah they can be annoying. But if you’re not even a little bit concerned about this blow hard’s lack of basic knowledge and how he resorts to sexist, demeaning comments when he gets out smarted by a teenager – sorry friend, that’s on you.
I politely asked her [and her two pals] after the event for her “best evidence” and, after claiming she’s studied this issue for a half-decade, she pulled from the Internet the standard claim that most-all scientists support her position…which obviously didn’t suffice…and I departed after providing another opportunity for any of them to document their claims – typical.
She’s not the one asking for votes here. This isn’t about her or any tracker. Scott Wagner consistently handles these situations poorly – he immediately goes to hokey science (the earth is getting closer to the sun), sexist, demeaning and in one case anti-semetic rhetoric when confronted by a tracker and a camera.
He needs a dose of humility, some sense, and a few episodes of Bill Nye the Science Guy.
Skeptical of climate change and ignorant of climate change are different things. He’s just not a smart guy.
Curious that Wagner tells us he is against abortion, but he was happy to write checks for thousands of dollars to Planned Parenthood.