Republican candidate in Pennsylvania threatens to "trample" his opponent's face

Three weeks before election day, Scott Wagner, the Republican governor candidate for Pennsylvania, wanted to address a message to outgoing President, Governor Tom Wolf, Democrat. She said, "I'm going to stomp your face with golf spikes."

This violent image was perhaps the most shocking of Mr. Wagner's numerous verbal bombs in a video posted on Facebook on Friday as the country approaches the tense election campaign period. Friday afternoon, the video had been viewed more than 28,000 times.

"Well, Governor Wolf, let me tell you what, between November 6 and November 1, you'd do well to put a receiver mask on your face, because I'm going to trample your face with golf tips," he said. exclaimed Mr. Wagner, as the sound of cars hissing past could be heard nearby. "Because I'm going to win that for the state of Pennsylvania. And we are putting you out. Because I'm tired of your negative ads. "

The publicity stems from the fact that both parties have quarreled over the level of civility in politics, with Republicans recently comparing Democratic demonstrators at Brett M. Kavanaugh's confirmation hearings to a crowd and criticizing the remarks of various Democrats in about Kavanaugh's justice.

Not surprisingly, Wolf's campaign condemned Mr Wagner's remarks.

"Scott Wagner's latest speech shows that he is unbalanced and unfit to hold positions," a Beth Melena spokeswoman said in a statement. "Threats of violence have no place in society, especially on the part of a candidate for public office."

But Andrew Romeo, a spokesman for Wagner, said in a statement that his "comments should not be taken literally."

"He wanted them to be a metaphor for how he will approach the final leg of the campaign," said Romeo. The video was meant to demonstrate that Mr. Wolf was "hiding behind false and negative commercials like a coward," he said.

The negative announcement that seems to have roused Wagner so much, and which he showed in his Facebook video, said the waste management company he owns, Penn Waste, had sued 6,979 of his customers.

Mr. Wagner defended the lawsuits, saying they were essential for delinquent clients to pay their bills. "If you have a business and serve, you want to get paid for it," he said.

Polls suggest that Senator Wagner may have a hard time dismissing Mr. Wolf. A A poll released last month by Franklin & Marshall College showed that it trailed behind the incumbent 22 points, between 30% and 52%, among likely voters, with 17% of voters undecided. Fifty percent of respondents said that Wolf did "excellent" or "good" work as a governor.